


Love by the ocean

by Lilyofwalley



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: But mentions of things they do before it ;), Catarina loss - Freeform, Flirting, Fluff, Let the boys have their privacy, Lonely but happy, M/M, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Other characters are in side role here, Ragnor Fell - Freeform, Raphael Santiago - Freeform, So no actual smut here, So pasically it is just Magnus and Alec, Strangers to Lovers, Two lonely souls meet eachother, Warlock Magnus Bane, clary fray - Freeform, jace wayland - Freeform, mentions of climate change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 41,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29078589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyofwalley/pseuds/Lilyofwalley
Summary: Welcome to a tropical island with Malec! ☀️🌴Magnus is a lonely warlock who lives on an isolated island in the Indian ocean. He had got bored of people in general and the warloc community in particular, because there was always somebody demanding something from him. So he decided to retire and move to one of his islands, which he had won about one hundred years ago in some silly bet.Alec is a marine biologist who enjoys his lonely adventures in his small sailing boat, where he lives and makes his diving investigations whenever he wants. His boat is modern and full of hightech equipement and a fully furnished laboratory, and of course a small corner to sleep, cook and eat. He had been sailing with his boat for quite a few months now, and decided to stop at an isolated island and look for water.I am not a marine biologist nor a sailor so please excuse any mistakes I may make with regard to this part of the story.Characters in this story are based on Cassandra Clare's books and on the Shadowhunters tv- series.  But the story is all mine. In this fic, there is little bit of the shadow world included, but not in great detail.
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 61
Kudos: 81





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> So here comes the new Malec fiction. Welcome to the board with me!  
> 🙂 
> 
> In this fic the chapters are not very long, and the there will be about 10-15 chapters. 
> 
> I am not native English speaker, so I have amazing beta @Malecfan09 who helps me to edit my text. So go and give some love to her too. ❤️

Chapter 1. 

Alec was sitting in his bermuda shorts on the deck of his sailing boat, drying his skin and his hair after his morning dive. He didn't want to use a towel, because it would have meant that all the sun lotion he had used would be wiped away at the same time. And it wasn't as if there were many people who would be bothered by seeing a half naked man in their sight anyway, as there was simply no one around. If he didn't count the five dolphins that had been following his boat for a few days now, he didn't have any company. And that was exactly how he liked it.

He was sailing somewhere between Myanmar and Sri Lanka on the line where the Adaman Sea changed to the big Indian Ocean. There was no land or island on the horizon, just the deep turquoise sea, the sun and the soft eastern wind. The only downside of this lifestyle was that Alec's skin was the type that burned easily under the sun, so he needed the sun lotion whenever he wore something less than his normal, loose, linen-cotton long sleeved button-downs and long khaki trousers and wide-brimmed hat. 

Alec pulled his small basket he always had with him when he dove, to his side and opened it to look at his findings. He had a handful of branches of seaweed, which he had cut from the seabed and a few that grew close to the surface. Each plant was in its own fabric bag. Alec took from the box next to him, a clean white piece of cotton, and placed it over his lap. Then he took the first plant bag, placed the plant on the white cotton and took a photo of the whole plant with his camera that he had placed beside him for easy use. He then dissected the plant on the white cotton into its individual components and took a few macro pictures of the plant's leaves. Then he collected it all up inside the cotton and tied a black ribbon around the top to keep it all together. He did the same with all his samples and then he got to his feet, collected all his tools and plants and went inside to the cabin and to his lab. He could have taken the pictures inside too, of course, but the light was better outside, and he liked to dry himself in the sun first anyway.

Alec started to work methodically with every plant. He cut small samples and put them under the lens of a microscope, and then he dictated his findings to a recorder.

"On the seagrass from the seabed, fewer phytoplankton found than next to the Myanmar atolls..." Alec recorded and took a picture with the camera that was built in his microscope. He investigated every plant from every angle and dictated all his research into his recorder, which he was going to transfer to his computer later. And then he was going to send the results to Izzy, his sister, to the laboratory in New Zealand. He was one part of a big group of marine scientists who were researching how climate change affected the ecosystem in the Indian Ocean. 

Most of his colleagues, including his siblings, worked in groups that took short trips out to sea and went back home for the night. But Alec had always enjoyed working and living alone. So when the possibility to investigate the plankton-fauna and -plants in the coastal areas from Eastern India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar was announced, Alec volunteered immediately. He already had his high-tech boat lab and all he could need, because he had done a couple of shorter, month-long sailing trips around Australia and the Maldives before.

Now he had been sailing around the coastal areas alone for almost one and half years and he couldn't be happier. He really didn't miss his family much, because he had the possibility to call them once in a while with his satellite-connected mobile phone. It was actually more the other way around; his family missed him. That is the way it is sometimes. It is easier for the one who is leaving to go on adventures and find new experiences than for those who are left behind. But Alec didn't want that thought to put too much pressure on his shoulders, because he had the right to live his own life how he liked. He had felt like a third wheel in New Zealand, where all his family members had their chosen partner in their lives. There he sometimes felt lonely with so many people around him, but with no one who was there just for him. 

But sailing on the ocean he never felt lonely, even if he was all on his own. Because there really wasn't any better place where he could be happier than when diving in a diving suit to the bottom of the seabed and looking at the beautiful wild nature, fishes, coral and plants around him in the blue and turquoise water. Or when he could swim on the sea's surface with wild dolphins. Or the moments when he captured with his waterproof video camera, how a majestic blue whale swam over his head slowly and alone. Or when he saw those white sharks or lonely giant seaturtles swimming from somewhere to somewhere else. Alec really wasn’t afraid of anything that he met in the sea, because when he respected the creatures and kept his distance, there was no danger. He slept better than in ages, as he could wake up and go to sleep with the rhythm of the sun, and in his opinion, nothing was better sleep medication than the voice of waves next to his boat, or the rain pattering on the roof of the sleeping cabin. 

Alec was satisfied with his work. A couple more samples from this area and his whole job would be done for good, or for a while anyway. He went to his kitchen and made a small lunch, which included chickpeas, sweet potatoes and the last fresh slice of pineapple. He mostly drank only water and ate fish and dried or canned food. If he had the chance he bought vegetables and fruit from the people who lived by the sea, when he stopped by to get water. Dried food, mostly pasta, rice, different kinds of beans and lentils and canned crushed tomatoes were the basics of his diet. Sometimes he did some fishing, when he saw a big school of mackerel or herring next to his boat. Then there was a lot of action as seabirds and the larger fish and dolphins hunted the small fish all around his boat. At those times, Alec mostly just photographed the life around him, but also got some fish for himself. There were so many fish that Alec just needed to throw his rope-net a few times and he caught all the fish he could need for his dinner for the next couple of days. The dried food supplies under Alec's boat's deck were enough for almost two years when he included the vegetables, fruits and fishes, so the only things he needed to fill once in about three weeks were his water containers. And that was something he needed to do again in a couple of days.

Alec was experienced in looking for fresh, drinkable water from the small, uninhabited islands that were dotted here and there in the Indian Ocean. It was quite easy, when you knew what to look for. It could be seen in brackish water areas in the sea near to the islands, because the ecosystem changed when the water was less salty. That kind of change to the water indicated that there was fresh river water somewhere that flowed into the sea. Sometimes it was an underwater cave that the water came from, but sometimes there was a real river that came down from the mountains or a small lake that could be seen by anyone.

Alec laid a map over his table in his multi-purpose bedroom-kitchen-office-laboratory-cabin, and started to plan the next stop to a potentially useful island. When he found a possible candidate, he started to navigate towards the island. It was afternoon when he arrived close to the beautiful tropical island, where there was white sand on the beach and a couple of small, rocky mountains which rose up from the bushy green jungle. Just the perfect place for landing for a couple of days, Alec thought. He berthed his boat next to the river outlet he found, and put his flashlight, a small water bottle for drinking, a big collapsible water container, his hiking boots, underwear, a shirt and trousers, a jungle-knife and a few muesli-bars into his waterproof rucksack and climbed a ladder into the water and swam to the shore. Then he took off his swim-shorts, put his underwear, shirt, khaki pants and his boots on, took the big knife in his hand, and started to follow the river through the jungle.

After about an hour of walking Alec faced a mountain cliff and heard the sound of a waterfall. On his way he had found a Mango tree and a coconut tree. His fingers were messy from the mangoes he had eaten and he had a still half full coconut in his hand. He followed the sound of the falling water, and found a wonderful small but deep-looking, natural pool between the safety of two mountains. The small waterfall fell from a hole in the rocks and landed on some kind of shelf-like flat stone and ran over it to the pool. Alec drank the rest of his coconut and put the rucksack on the ground next to a tree, took off all his clothes and walked under the waterfall. The water was pure and pretty cold, but amazingly refreshing. Alec washed himself under the waterfall and drank all his thirst away. Then he stepped away from the falling water and just stood on a stone on the edge of the pool and took in all he saw. The place was beautiful. The tall trees of the jungle and the mountains offered a gentle shadow from the burning sun, the water was crystal clear, so that Alec was able to see to the bottom of this rocky pool. He supposed that it was about three meters deep at the deepest part, as it deepened from where he stood, where it was about one meter deep.

This island was the perfect place for a little stop, he thought. Maybe he could take his last samples from the seabed around this island, and then have a few days off before turning his boat towards home again. It would be a shame to just leave this island without exploring it a little bit first. Yeah, I'll do that, Alec thought, and sat on the edge and then stepped into the nicely warmed water. He dived and swam and just enjoyed the soft water's touch around him for a while.

Then he realized that the sun would be starting to set soon, so he rose from the water, filled his container, put his clothes on and headed back to his boat. He was looking forward to spending a few days on land after being a while at sea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here is the second chapter for you. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support, kudos and comments in my first chapter!  
> 💜💜💜
> 
> I had quite fun writing this chapter, so I hope you have fun too while reading. 
> 
> 💝to my amazing beta again!

chapter 2

Magnus was doing his Tai Chi routines on his small cottage's terrace one afternoon. He tried to ignore his thoughts that were wandering to his discussion with his friends, Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael, yesterday. He had been on his monthly visit to New York, where he had had dinner with his friends, and then joined them at Pandemonium, the downworlder-nightclub he used to own, but which Raphael had now inherited. 

It seemed like nothing had changed at all in these thirty-five years he had lived on his tropical island. At least not in the downwolder community anyway. The mundanes had invented the internet, mobile phones, genetic technology for the treatment for diseases, and then there was something that they called social media. Ragnor had tried to suggest that he should also have a mobile phone for himself, so that he would be able to follow what was going on in the world. Thank you very much, but absolutely not, he had said. What would he need from that said Instagram for example, or an email-address. He portaled weekly the important magazines such as The New York times, the Time, and the Downworldnews for news, The Hollywood magazine for fun and gossip and the Economist to be able to follow his investments, to his island and read them during his Sunday breakfast, and that was absolutely enough information for his needs. He didn't want to magic some mobile network around his island either in order to get that said phone or internet to work. If he needed to communicate with his friends, he could use fire-messages as he was used to. 

He had his reasons for why he had moved away and those hadn't changed, no matter what else had. Because he happened to be one of the most powerful warlocks in the world, there had always been a line of people waiting for him, who needed or demanded this or that from him. He had taken the position of high warlock of Brooklyn, because he thought that it would made some sense and help with those never-ending demands, but in those 120 years he had been a high warlock, it really hadn't changed, but got even worse. Because despite his magical powers, the position also included quite a lot political power too, and that meant the same today, as it meant in the 19th century: the ass-kissers and back-stabbers. And Magnus wasn't a fan of either of them, nor did he know which type of people were the worst. He had learned to get used to it all, because there were a lot of good things he was able to do in that position, and that was the only thing that gave him the motivation to continue. 

But enough was enough. Once in the late 1970s came the breaking point of his career as a high warlock and all that crap that came with it. There was a rogue downworlder gang, who had summoned five greater demons in order to get what they wanted, because Magnus had denied their call. So not only had he needed to fix everything that that said gang did with the greater demons, but also he and the whole high warlock community had needed to hunt the released greater demons, who of course had summoned lesser demons along with them, around the world. And that of course meant a collaboration with the whole Shadow world, including the shadowhunters and their dear Clave. It didn't really need much more than little whispers, here and there, from the gang leader-seelie and his partner, a vampire called Camille, and quite quickly a part of the Shadow world believed that this whole mess was Magnus's fault.

Magnus would have been fool if he thought that said vampire Camille had nothing to do with all this. Of course she had. And the reason behind Camille’s anger was personal: Magnus had once, about 150 years ago, dated her and their relationship didn't end very amicably. Camille had been cheating on Magnus and that was rule breaker number one for Magnus, who had always been a one soul at a time kind of guy. And he expected the same behaviour from his partner too. Camille had asked and demanded Magnus back many times during the years, but she didn't ever realize how badly she had broken Magnus's heart that first time. And Magnus had learnt his lesson and denied Camille's pleads over and over again. But Camille was a person who didn't take rejection easily, she was used to getting what she wanted and used her vampire-encanto-skills to get it if it didn't work in any other way. But Magnus was too powerful for Camille's encanto, so she found other ways to have her revenge. 

And when the whole mess, after five years of political fights and endless demon hunting and sending the gang to the spiral labyrinth or to the Clave's prison, was over, Magnus decided that he was done with all that. He suggested that a new high warlock was needed and supported his dear friend, Lorenzo Ray, in the election process. After Lorenzo got most of the votes and inherited Magnus's position, Magnus helped him to get everything in order. 

Then Magnus started his nightclub business and built the bar and gave the name Pandemonium to it. He wanted downworlders to have a safe place to be the way they were, without causing scandals in the mundane world. Of course, the mundanes had found the popular night club too, but they had no clue about the downworld, as there was always a bouncer capable of casting a spell to affect the mundane's eyes, so they couldn't see the vampire teeth, seelie ears or different kinds of warlock marks. 

Magnus was quite ok for about fifteen years, but then he got bored of the nightlife and hookups and of course, the endless line of downworlders who needed or demanded services from him, again. It was at this point that he started to plan the total change to his life. He debated it with his dearest friends, the warlocks Catarina and Ragnor and a vampire Raphael, a lot. They all tried to reason with him, tell him why he should stay. But when the thought of a peaceful life somewhere where no one from the downworld could find him, started to grow in Magnus's head, he couldn't stop it anymore. He found himself liking the idea more and more each day, and even more when he remembered that he actually owned an appropriate place already. He had won some silly bet in a poker game in the 1920's and ended up owning the deed papers of one of the abandoned islands in the Indian Ocean. So he started to organize things on the quiet. He got fancy about the idea that he wouldn’t need to magic all his food, but could grow and cook it himself. So he purchased a couple of goats, a boat and fishing supplies, and a little flock of chickens. He studied how to grow food by himself and visited garden-markets and bought seeds and plants. He even bought bags of onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes, in order to plant them in the soil on that said island. 

Then of course he needed to consider how he was going to live there and what kind of house would be suitable for the climate and the terrain. For some reason he imagined that his house in the jungle should be in a tree, like Tarzan had in the movies, so he went and researched and experimented with different kinds of cabins in order to find the perfect one. Once everything was organized and ready, he portaled it all to the island, along with a few of his loft's furniture, which he arranged inside the tree cabin.

And then Magnus called his friends and invited them for drinks at Pandemonium. There he announced that everything was settled, and that he was going to leave for good the next morning from his now almost empty loft. He gave the club keys and the contract where he stipulated that Raphael had inherited the place, to Raphael. Cat and Ragnor got his magic-room and all that was there, because that was something he thought he didn't need on the island, so he left it in the loft. Cat was going to have all his healing magic books and Ragnor could have his collection of old novels from different centuries. He kept the loft for himself as he thought he might want to live in New York again some day. 

When Cat, Ragnor and Raphael realized, that they couldn't change Magnus's mind they accepted the presents they got with mixed feelings. They did, though, make Magnus promise that he would come and visit them once in a while. It was Cat, who almost cried and said that they were going to miss him and suggested that they should at least meet more than once or twice a year, even if they all knew that immortal life felt like it went by quicker than normal life. So they arranged to meet every first Friday night of the month in Pandemonium. Magnus thought that he could live with that. It was nice anyway, to stay connected with his dearest ones. But he insisted that he was the one who was going to visit everyone in New York, not the other way around. He wanted to keep his private island just for himself. 

The next morning all Magnus's three friends were gathered in Magnus's loft to say goodbye. And now they had gifts for him. Cat gave Magnus a box, in which there were healing herbs for all tropical diseases one could imagine, and a vegetable gardening-book, just in case Magnus managed to really have enough patience to grow something for eating. Magnus rolled his eyes at Cat. Did his friend really think so little of his patience? Of course, Magnus, as with all other warlocks,was used to getting whatever he pleased with a wave of his hand and a snap of his fingers, but Magnus insisted that he needed something to do on the island and that he surely had enough patience to grow his own food! 

Raphael gave Magnus a beautiful bronze sundial and a calendar for the next hundred and fifty years, so that he could keep track of time and never miss their meetings. Ragnor had his present under a black curtain. When he took the fabric away, there were two colourful parrots under it in a golden cage. He explained that he had got them from one of his seelie friends, who couldn't keep them anymore because his chosen lover was allergic to the birds or something. The said friend owned a gay strip club in downtown Manhattan and the parrots had grown up in the club, entertaining the clients with their parrot antics. And since Ragnor really didn't have the time to take care of these birds in the long term by himself, he thought that they would be good company for Magnus. The one with the red head was called Alfonso and the one with the blue head was Dorian.

Magnus had been very touched by all the presents he got and he thought that they all really suited the person who had given them.

Magnus huffed. Yeah, this was supposed to be all about Tai Chi and mindfulness and relaxation, he thought. In order to think of something else other than what his friends had suggested he should think about, he had started to think about the reasons behind his moving here, and of course all of it had caused his blood pressure to rise, as it always did when thinking about Camille or downworlder politics too much. He adjusted his Tai Chi position where he stood, took a couple of deep breaths, and then forced his thoughts to flow free for a moment. He almost found the calming effect of the exercise again, until Dorian and Alfonso flew to a branch of the Hibiscus bush growing next to the terrace.

"Snack!" Dorian announced.

"Hilarious!" was Alfonso's humoristic opinion of Magnus's movements and the way their feeding time was later than normal today. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm sorry, I let my thoughts carry me away, for a moment," Magnus said to the birds and went inside to get the bag of seeds and nuts he had for parrots. He took a few macadamia nuts from the bag and gave them to the parrots who danced excitedly on their branch.

" Haaaandsooome!" Alfonso chirped on a high note.

" Good boy, good boy, good boy," Dorian agreed with his brother. 

Yeah, the parrots were quite good company, actually, Magnus thought. They could be nice if they wanted to be. Even if their vocabulary included predominantly words that could be heard in a gay strip club, since they grew up there. Sometimes producing hilarious results, the parrots were able to hold small conversations with Magnus. Not much but somehow they were very good at sensing different moods, body language, and tone, and almost every time they found some kind of relevant answer when Magnus talked to them. 

"They said that I might need someone in my life. What do you think? Am I too lonely? Hmm?" Magnus asked his parrots who flew behind him when he went to feed his goats and chickens. 

"Good boy, good boy!" Dorian cooed again. 

"Touch yourself, touch, touch, touch!" Alfonso sang. 

"Good boy, good boy, no touching!" Dorian chirped. 

Magnus rolled his eyes at his parrots. Yeah right, very clever, go and ask a question like that from two fools who knew all about strip clubs and sex talk, but nothing about human relationships. What else had he expected than that, really?

But putting aside his friend’s suggestions, he didn't miss anybody in his life. He had his friends and sometimes he used the opportunities that Pandemonium had to offer to fulfill his physical needs with another human being. That was all he felt he needed. Thank you very much. And no, he hadn't yet planned to move back to New York. He had it too nice here on his island. 

"All right boys, the fish soup won’t get ready by itself. Let's go and collect some water" Magnus said and took his big iron pot from his kitchen counter. Magnus walked along the short path through the jungle before a clearing and the pool came into view.

Before he walked out from the shadow of the trees, he stopped on the spot. There was someone, a man-like creature under his waterfall. Magnus waved his hand quickly and snapped his fingers to glamour him and his parrots from the eyes of who - or what- ever the creature by his pool was. Magnus thought about all the myths of the spirits of the sea and the tales of the mermaids and mermen who could take the form of a human on some rare moments in their life. Maybe one of those kinds of spiritual creature had decided to stop by and enjoy his pool. Because, even if he didn't quite manage to catch what kind of creature was in his vision at that moment, it was definitely going to be not only a rare, but maybe a once in a lifetime experience even for an eight hundred year old warlock to able to see one of the merpeople. 

The creature was maybe a male, if anything could be assumed from the strong-looking muscles in its arms and back that Magnus managed to see clearly through the falling water. Now the creature turned around and walked away from the waterfall. Oh, yeah, a male, definitely. Magnus’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw the naked man walking to the opposite side of the pool and stepping onto one of the big flat stones over there. Magnus swallowed hard. The man before him was easily the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen. The creature's wet skin glinted in the rays of golden late afternoon sun and highlighted every muscle of his body. His thick black hair dripped water over his face and back. Magnus was finding it hard to breathe as he looked at the beauty before him, trying hard not to imagine what those muscles would feel like under his hands….his lips teasingly licking the water off his skin.

Dorian and Alfonso sat on Magnus's shoulders, either side of his head, and tilted their heads from one side to the other and whistled approvingly. 

"Hooooot! Good fuck!" Alfonso sang in a low voice.

"You may look. No touching, no touching" Dorian sang along. 

"Hush now!" Magnus whispered, shivering from the thoughts swirling in his mind, and checked just in case, that the glamour was still in place. He watched as the creature by the pool walked down to the water and dove under the surface for a long time. Magnus almost thought that it had totally disappeared already, but then he saw how the creature's head rose from the water close to the waterfall. The merman swam around the whole pool with easy-looking movements, like a fish almost, and then he dove again and came up by the flat stone, where it was less deep than on the other side of the pool. Magnus watched how the supposed merman rose to his feet, and shook the water from his hair. Magnus’s jaw dropped and the air whooshed out of his lungs when he again saw all those beautiful muscles on display, as the merman stood in the waist-deep water.

Magnus allowed himself to look at the creature one more time, before he started to walk silently backwards and forced himself to tear his eyes away from the beautiful vision. Better to let the creature be by himself now, who knew how long he was going to be just a nice sprit creature, if he figured out that he had been watched, he might change to a powerful angry merman king or something. Even if Magnus was surely powerful enough to defend himself, he didn't dare to think about fighting against that kind of rare beauty. Yeah, Magnus thought, he could magic the water for his fish soup today, for once.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third chapter is ready for you to read.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> 🌴☀️

Chapter 3

Alec pov

Alec woke up in his bed on the boat. He walked in his thin flannel pyjama pants onto the deck of the boat. The sky was a spotless blue and the sun was already high above the horizon. How long had he been sleeping? Normally he woke up much earlier. Maybe the relaxing feeling of safe land nearby had an effect. Or maybe it was his skinny-dipping in the pool in the middle of that beautiful jungle. It had been quite a while since he had had the possibility of bathing in fresh water properly. In any case, it was time to start the day. He sat on the deck and started his yoga and meditation. After that he did a short set of workout exercises and then went inside to eat some breakfast. Then he put his bermuda shorts and light gray tank top on, put some sunlotion on his shoulders and face, put shoes on, took the now empty 20 liter water containers in both hands, and hopped straight to the water from his deck. He was so used to the fact that his clothes got wet all the time that he really didn't mind if they got wet now as well. They were going to dry soon enough under the hot sun anyway. And since he had already cleared his way through the jungle yesterday, he didn't need long sleeved clothes anymore to protect his skin from branches, as the path to the natural pool was easier to walk now. 

When Alec came back from the pool, his containers full of water, he had a plan for the next few days. He was going to take samples of the seagrass species from the sea next to this island. It was a very good opportunity to explore how the mixture of water with less salt was influencing the seagrasses and the planktons growing within it. Then he planned to put his complete divingsuit on and go to investigate the mangroves that grew by the river and also on the Western side of this island. The other sides of this island's coastal area were basically white sand beaches. The whole island was maybe about five or six square kilometers, according to the map Alec had. But these islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, almost two weeks sailing with his boat from the nearest civilization, were hardly ever drawn correctly on the maps. 

Alec stored the containers under the deck, collected his waterproof videocamera, his laboratory stuff along with a sample-basket, his snorkel and his swimming fins. Then he put on his knee-long skin-tight swimming shorts, and jumped into the water once again. In the water he put on the snorkel and the fins and swam in a line in the sea about one hundred meters from the sandy beach. 

The water was crystal clear and Alec admired the wide view before him. He never got bored with the world that opened up under the surface. This place was untouched by humans, so everything was even more perfect. The coral reef shone in hundreds of different shades of red, yellow, brown and green in the sun-rays that came through the surface. The fish, in all the colours of the rainbow swam alone or in schools. Alec clicked his camera on and just let the flow lead him for a while. Suddenly a shadow glided over his head and when he turned to look at what it was, he saw a huge stingray that almost like flew through the water. It was majestic, a rare sight. So Alec let himself sink a little bit deeper in the water and just took in the moment as the ray swam slowly and silently back to the ocean. 

Alec rose back to the surface in order to take a couple of deep breaths before diving back to take the samples he needed. He almost shook with excitement as he always did when he was able to see those amazing rare creatures of the sea. These were the moments when he would like to shout his excitement out loud and share his experience with someone face to face. Of course, he would share it online later, by emailing his family the material he had shot. He also had many followers on Instagram, where he had a site so that he could raise awareness of the beauty of the wildlife in oceans, and hold his charity events once in a while in order to collect money for a few small environmental projects that supported local poor people to secure and keep safe the unique nature around them. Only sometimes Alec thought how nice it would be, to share those amazing moments with someone in real life. He was happy about his life choices, but still, it would be great if sometimes he could experience and share nature’s beauty with someone in the present moment. 

With regards to the charity project, Alec had already checked out some small organisations in Myanmar, with whom he was maybe going to collaborate after his research journey was over. His dear friend Jace and his wife Clary were the ones who organised the charity events at the moment and they were the ones he sent his videoshot material to as often as he could. Jace and Clary owned a small charity business that organised educative events about the natural sea environment in different languages, in order to help people understand the value of and the need to protect the natural world. Alec was looking forward to working with them and helping people protect their environment. 

Alec dove deep to the bottom of the sea and took a few samples from here and there and put them in his basket. Then he swam towards the beach, where he was going to take the first pictures of his samples. 

Magnus pov.

Magnus had slept badly last night. He had had very... interesting... dreams about the naked creature he had seen on the previous night. He had woken up in the darkness of his cabin, sweating all over and one hand in his pants. In the morning he was still horny and a little bit embarrassed about his condition. It wasn't like the animals around him would have recognized his mood anyway.

"Come on," he said to himself as he walked to his pool to wash away the sweat from last night and collect some water for his tea pot. "You can do better than this, you are not like some virgin schoolboy with your first wet dream!" he thought and shook his head at himself. He was a warlock, who was very experienced with everything when it came to sex. There weren't many things that he hadn't tried and experienced relating to that subject. And then he ends up hard and coming in his pants for what? For a simple visual image of some kind of merman who he probably wasn't going to meet ever again. So what was wrong with him now really? Maybe his friends were right after all? Maybe he needed someone in his life, so he didn't need to dream about something he could never have, and which he wasn’t even sure was something real or that maybe this merman vision existed only in his imagination. 

Then he remembered that his parrots had recognized the strange creature too. So the vision by the pool was real. And Magnus decided to just be grateful that he had had a lucky moment where he had been able to see something so rare and beautiful. And then he added this last evening's experience to a corner of his mind along with the other strange but memorable experiences in his long life. Now the pool was of course empty and no spiritual creatures to be seen. After his morning bath, Magnus made breakfast for himself. He had fried egg, a soft goat cheese, which he had learnt to make, bread and fresh papaya. He drank a rooibush tea, a herbal concoction made from the leaves he had found on bushes in his jungle one day, because he didn't feel like summoning anything this morning with his magic. After greeting all his animals, Magnus went to the beach. It was his favourite place on this whole island. There was almost white, pure sand covering a nearly three kilometers long beach, which was about 80 meters wide in some places, and less than 30 meters wide in others. The ebb and flow of the tide changed the line between the sea and the forest behind the beach. Magnus loved just walking with bare feet close to the water, or doing his Tai Chi exercises on the silky soft sand. Magnus's bare feet had already got used to the hotness of the white sand after long sunny days. Now, in the morning, the sand was warm, but not yet burning hot. 

Magnus started his Tai Chi movements and let his gaze rest on the horizon, where the line between the sky and the sea was invisible. Suddenly his eyes caught a movement near the place where the small river ended and the mangroves reached the beach. He saw the same man's torso, as he’d seen yesterday by the pool, rising from the water and gliding behind the headland. Once again, like yesterday, the sight made him catch his breath and he felt heat rise in his body. He groaned when he felt his cotton pants suddenly get a little too tight. Magnus closed his eyes and took a couple of very deep breaths and tried to focus on his Tai Chi once again. It wasn't easy, when he imagined the said male creature in all his naked glory like he was yesterday under the waterfall, but somehow he managed to calm himself enough in order to finish his exercises. 

Alec pov

When Alec rose from the water, he saw a man on the beach doing Tai Chi or something like that. Oh. There was somebody else on this island too after all. Was there a bigger community here or just that one lonely man on his own? Was he the survivor of some shipwreck, or did he maybe live on the island by his own free will. The man had looked like he was on that beach every day and just did his daily routines. He didn't look like he was afraid of something, or that the place was strange to him.

Alec took his samples to his boat and did his normal research there, instead of on the beach as he had first planned. Then he put some proper clothes in his waterproof bag and swam from his boat to the beach and changed into beige khaki pants and a white cotton button-down. He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, rounded the headland and took the path towards the other person. He was going to find out who the man was and why he was here. He was always open-minded about new connections with people and was excited to meet the person who might actually be living on this isolated island in the Indian Ocean. 

Magnus pov 

"Okay, now I'm in trouble! " Magnus thought when he saw the man walking towards him on the beach about three hundred meters away. The supposed merman was now wearing a loose cotton shirt and khaki pants which were of such a thin fabric, that Magnus could easily imagine how the muscles of the merman’s legs moved under the pants with his every movement in the soft sand. Magnus tried to shake the image of the naked man away from his mind and focus on the present moment instead. 

What should he do? How should he behave? He had met strange creatures before, quite a few times in his past life, but he couldn't find anything useful from his memories about how to act when meeting a merperson. He had heard and read about them several times, but that was a long time ago. The only thing he remembered was that the merpeople were said to be beautiful and that they could be harmless like normal human beings but also very dangerous like sirens with strong spells, which they used to take people under the surface to their kingdom as a prisoner. So. The question was, should he show who he was, talk first and say some protection spell against the merman? Or should he act like he was a normal human being, in order not to frighten him and trigger an unexpected threat. 

Oh god, why was that man so gorgeous?! It would be easier to focus, if he would be less beautiful. "Come on Magnus. You have the power of the prince of hell, if needed. You can handle one merman with your pinky finger!" Magnus tried to find courage in himself. Then he took a couple of deep breaths and raised his face in order to look the merman in the eyes as soon as he came close enough. He adjusted his cotton pants and tanktop and straightened his back. "Here we go," Magnus thought. "Whatever happens, I'm as ready as I can be, " he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday, everyone! ✨❄️
> 
> It is time to go back to the tropical Island again. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter 4!
> 
> 💜💜💜 :s and hugs to my amazing beta once again. What would I do without her, I really don't know. She does a very big effort by editing my text, and mentoring, commenting and supporting my writing when ever I need help. Thank you @Malecfan09  
> 💜💜💜

Chapter 4.

Alec walked towards the man on the beach, until he was about ten meters away from him. The man was Asian, maybe from Myanmar or from Indonesia? Alec noticed that he had beautifully tanned, golden, soft skin, a fit and muscled body and petite bone structure. His eyes were glinting in gold here and there, but were mostly dark, maybe brown as the people of the nations in this side of world normally had. The man wore a hint of eyeliner, which was a little bit weird on a tropical island, but maybe it just was his style, since his clothes also looked like they weren't just regular market stuff but more likely some kind of high fashion. Alec normally didn't care much about those kinds of things, at least not on the boat, where clothes were supposed to be just a protection from the sun and as comfortable as possible, but he still recognized the quality of them. The clothes fit the man perfectly and the fabric alone looked expensive. All in all, the man looked amazing. Just the type Alec would like to date if he ever had time to go and look for someone worth trying to build something with.

But before letting his mind wander further in that kind of direction, he reminded himself that first of all he didn't know the man in front of him, at all. The man could be a father of eight kids and his happy wife might be somewhere near making lunch for the family. And secondly, no matter how gorgeous the man was, more than anything sexual, Alec yearned for a normal connection with another human being. He loved his life on the boat, and of course he had met people at the harbours when he stopped by and bought water and food, but he hadn't had any real conversation with another person in ages. "Oh, please, let him know how to speak English!," Alec begged in his mind. He spoke a little bit of several other languages in the Indian Ocean's coastal areas, but really he only knew those just enough to buy food without getting fooled. When he worked with his projects he always used local interpreters. So, here we go, he thought, you will never know if you don't ask.

Alec waved his hand as a greeting.

"Hello," he said in a loud voice and smiled. "Do you speak English?" he asked.

The man in front of him nodded carefully, but looked like he had seen a ghost. Alec supposed that he was just surprised to see someone on the island, or that maybe he had gone through some trauma and was afraid of people. He turned his hands, palms facing to the man and raised them lightly in order to show to the man that he had no weapons and that he didn't mean any harm. The other man raised his hands too, but they were shaped at a strange angle, like he was going to throw something.

"I'm Alec, and I'm a marine biologist. I do science research on the plants in this ocean," Alec said. The man just looked at him quietly and carefully, a fiery look in his eyes. All right, Alec thought. Looks like I'm the one who’s got to do all talking here.

"Em.. hmmm...," Alec started. What should he say next to the man to make him relax a bit. "I stopped by only to collect some drinkable water for my boat and to rest a little bit. Then I’ll leave. I promise. You don't have to worry about me, I'm not going to do any harm to you or to this island," he tried to convince the man. He saw how the man's shoulders relaxed a little. Alec took that as a sign to continue. 

" I saw you here on the beach and wanted to come and say hello, since I haven't talked to anybody in the flesh in two weeks," Alec said and huffed a little bit. Yeah, that was maybe a long time for him, but perhaps only a blink of an eye of the time this man may have experienced alone. Alec put his hands in his pockets and smiled at the man. He still stood ten meters apart and wondered whether he should just go. But something deep in his mind told him to stay and wait. Maybe it was only because of the need for human connection or maybe it was the simple fact that the man in front of Alec had a rare beauty, he was a feast for the eyes to look upon. Regardeless, he decided to stay where he was and wait to find out if the man was going to say something. 

Magnus was so confused and surprised by the words the man, who he had supposed to be a merman, had said, that he forgot how to speak for a moment. The possibility that a real human being could sail to his island, was something that hadn't even come into his mind when he had argued inside his head about what that male creature by the pool was. And that was why he had thought about almost every other possibility than that, and then decided that a merman was the closest guess he could make. And yet, there he was, a normal human being, in real flesh and blood, who had sailed to his island coincidentally. Magnus forced himself to focus on the present moment instead of the moment by the pool and his guesses about what the man was. Because now, he realized, he had the possibility, for once, to have a real, sane conversation with another person without additional thoughts in the background. And that was very rare in his short hook-ups with random men or women in Pandemonium. He wasn't going to fool himself, of course physical needs were important for him too. But if he was really honest with himself, he found that more than anything, he missed a good conversation with a normal person. Of course, he had talked with his friends just the day before yesterday, but their conversation was mostly about what was going on in the Shadow World and his and his friends developments in life. So this was different. There was a possibility to talk about totally new things with this man. He found that he really was interested to find out what this other person thought about things, and not just interested in the physical side, no matter how good looking he was. 

Magnus watched as this man, Alec, as he had introduced himself, put his hands in his pockets and started to draw some indescribable figures in the sand with his toes. He seemed to decide to wait until Magnus said something. 

Magnus felt embarrassment rise in his chest when he realized suddenly how impolite he had been. Like some weirdo who didn't want to speak to strangers. He wanted to correct that kind of impression immediately. Because he wasn't like that. And because this man in front of him was too gorgeous to just let go. So he relaxed his posture, put a smile on his face, even took a couple of steps forward, and said: 

"I'm Magnus. Very nice to meet you."

When Magnus saw how Alec raised his eyes from the ground and gave him an honest looking wide smile as an answer, he found the rest of his courage and closed the distance between them. 

"I'm sorry that I didn't answer immediately. I guess I was just so surprised to hear some kind of human being's voice over here," Magnus said and raised his hand to shake hands. 

Alec took the offered hand and shook it happily. " I understand. It must be rare to meet someone over here so suddenly. Nice to meet you too," he said, and felt somehow that he didn't want to let Magnus's hand go just yet. It was maybe the fact that the human touch felt simply so good after such a long time or then, perhaps, there were some other reasons too, which Alec didn't let himself think about just yet. He hadn't touched another man in a sensual way in almost two years. Nevertheless, he still let their touch linger in that handshake a little longer than was necessary. This man’s touch just felt so completely right, as if his hand belonged there, as if his skin knew the feeling of the other man’s hand. 

"Urm…if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here in this far away island, and are you here all on your own?" Alec said, took a shaky breath and finally let Magnus's hand go. He put his hands back in his pockets, shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at Magnus carefully while he waited for his answer. He hoped that he hadn't overstepped anything, from his rather long handshake to his rather personal question. About the former he had no clue but with regards to the latter it was probably just the most normal question in this situation. It wasn't as if he could have asked " Do you come here often?" as if he were in some bar. 

"I don't mind, at all," Magnus replied and smiled. His hand's skin tingled still a little because of the slightly too long handshake they had shared. The handshake had felt like neither of them had wanted to end it too soon. Yeah, Magnus thought, that happens when you are alone too long; even a normal handshake starts to feel like a rare moment that you don't want to let go. In order to shake the feeling away, he waved his hand back towards his house in the jungle. "I actually live here, of my own free will. It's a long story, but I needed the distance from my life in New York and since I happened to own this island, I decided to move here for a while." 

Alec was shocked. "You own this island?! Oh, wow, that's.... that's really something I couldn't have guessed," he said with a surprised expression on his face. "But what I do think is, that you are so lucky to have such a beautiful place!" he continued. "Do you live here alone or do you have your family here as well?" It would have been a dream come true-situation for Alec, to able to live in a place like this and find someone as crazy as himself, who would want to live together on an isolated island. 

" No, just me and my parrots, goats and chickens. But I do visit New York once in a while, to meet my friends that I consider as a family," Magnus said. He didn't remember, though, that it would sound crazy for a human to travel regularly to the opposite side of the world, since he didn't have an airplane or helicopter or even a big motorboat to be able to travel easily away from this island in any way a human could. He realized that a little bit too late, when he saw Alec's confused expression and heard his question.

"So you have a seaplane then?" Alec asked like it was the only obvious explanation. 

"Well, not exactly..." Magnus hurried to explain before he drove himself into the trap. He just couldn't tell a total stranger that he was a warlock who could portal where and whenever he wanted. "... I have someone.... a friend.. in Sri Lanka... who has a small seaplane, and... . " He hoped he didn't have to explain any further, because these kinds of lies never worked in the long term.

But Alec, like the human he was, accepted the explanation easily. "Oh, I see," he just said. Then he seemed to remember something and said, "I really hope you don't mind that I bathed in your beautiful pool over there yesterday, I had no idea that someone could be living here..." he said and waved his hand in the direction where the pool was. 

Magnus felt his cheeks redden, as he once again remembered the vision of the glorious naked beauty that he saw yesterday by the pool. He was thankful for his tanned skin colour that hid his red cheeks quite well. He cleared his suddenly dry throat and masked it as a small chuckle. "Oh, of course not! It is totally understandable to want to enjoy a clear water bath after two weeks of only salty water," he said and smiled as innocently as he could. "But why don't we move to somewhere more comfortable? I feel like a terrible host right now, that I've forced my guest to just stand here under the burning sun for so long!" he exclaimed happily when he realized that he had other options than to just stand there in his embarrassment. "Come on, Alec, let's get some refreshments," he said and started to walk towards the small path that led through the jungle to his home. 

Alec followed Magnus to an open area, where there was a small cottage under the shadow of a big tree, and then small stairs that rose from the cottage's roof up to the middle branches of the tree, where there was a smaller cabin. There was a small fence at the farthest end of the open yard area, which Alec supposed was the place where Magnus's goats lived, since five goats ran to greet them from that direction. The chickens wandered freely around the area and also came to look at what was going on. Two colourful parrots swung themselves in a small hibiscus tree in front of the terrace of the cottage. As the goats brushed their noses on their hands and against their legs, Alec laughed freely at the friendly welcome he got from the animals.

"Looks like you have a friendly company here anyway, even if they are not people," Alec said as he followed Magnus to the terrace. 

"Yes, they are lovely, indeed," Magnus chuckled. "Please, sit down, and make yourself comfortable. I have fresh-lemon lemonade over there in my fridge, would you like some, or do you prefer something stronger, whiskey, maybe?" Magnus offered.

"The lemonade sounds great, thanks. I think it is little bit too early for stronger stuff. It's not even noon yet," Alec said and grinned while sitting in the cushioned wicker chair.

"Oh, well, you know, it's always five o'clock somewhere, darling," Magnus said and winked to Alec as he walked inside to fetch the drinks. He felt relieved that he was able to act like his normal, flirtatious self again, once the first shock had passed. He also noticed, that Alec didn't mind, but gave a little smile instead, at his little flirt. Interesting, he thought. He decided to make an extra effort and snapped his fingers to fill his cabinets and fridge with ingredients he would need. He squeezed five fresh lemons that had appeared in his fruit basket, into a glass jug and dropped in ice cubes and mint leaves along with the juice. Then he poured a bottle of lemonade over the ingredients. He also made some quick hummus-goatcheese-tomato sandwiches and set them on a plate. If he cheated by using magic just a little bit, nobody needed to know that.

While waiting, the parrots came and sat on the railing of the terrace in front of Alec. They tilted their head from one side to the other and let out chirps and knocks from their beaks. They were funny, swanky and glorious. Both birds were bright green except for their heads and neck, which were red on the one and blue on the other. 

Suddenly the one with the blue head fled to the armrest of Alec's chair, and chirped quietly next to his ear:

"Come here often, bebe?.... Bebe, bebe.... come here often, bebe, bebe..." 

Alec laughed, surprised. He had no idea that a parrot could speak that way. Then the one with the red head came next to the other and nodded his head as if in agreement. 

"Haaandsooome, bebe, bebe, bebe... " it sang. 

"Oh come on, boys, you couldn't leave my guest in peace then?" Magnus said in an annoyed voice, when he came out carrying a tray in his hands. He started to put the glasses and sandwiches on the table next to Alec and said: 

"Don't listen to my parrots, they don't know how to behave properly, as they were raised by a strip club owner." 

Alec just laughed. "Really? Oh, now I understand why they went straight to the point like that!" he exclaimed and laughed again. "I like them. What are their names?" he asked then and watched as the one with the blue head flew to Magnus's shoulder. The other nudged his own shoulder, so he started to caress the silky feathers of the parrot's head with his hand. 

"That one is Alfonso, and this handsome fellow is Dorian," Magnus said and scratched the bird under his beak. "I like them too, of course, even if they drive me crazy sometimes with their dirty talk. 

"Hot boy, beautiful boy!... no touching, no touching!" Dorian cooed to Magnus as proof of his point. 

Magnus rolled his eyes at the parrot but Alec just laughed. 

"I can see what you mean that their company might be interesting," he chuckled. 

Magnus nodded and smiled a relaxed smile at Alec, and then gestured to the plates where the sandwiches were. "Go ahead, help yourself," he said and poured the lemonade into two glasses. "I thought that a little lunch would be proper at this time. I hope you are not allergic to anything I put in there between the bread. There is tomato, hummus and goatcheese," he said 

"No, I'm not allergic to anything. My diet is vegetarian, mostly. I eat eggs and milk though, and also fish sometimes, if I catch one." Alec said and smiled. He was hungry, so he didn't bother to hesitate and took a sandwich in his hand. "But I don't mind eating almost anything that is served, just prefer ethically produced meat or game meat, if I have the chance to choose. Aside from the ideology, a vegetarian diet is also so much easier and safer when sailing around in these kinds of climate conditions, " he continued, and waved his hand around in the tropical air. Then he took the first bite of the sandwich. 

Magnus nodded. "I like almost every food that exists, but I do like the way you are thinking. I eat here quite simply, mostly just what these, my friends, give to me, what I grow in my garden plot or what I can find from the sea or from the forest," he explained. "Since I learnt to make goat cheese and yoghurt from the milk these goats give, my diet got quite a lot richer in flavour." 

"This is delicious!" Alec said when he breathed between the bites. He hadn't eaten a freshly made sandwich in ages. It was so good that he almost let a little groan escape from his throat. 

"Well thank you, darling!" Magnus said. "Now, tell me about your life. You said you are a scientist. How does that work in a lonely boat on the Indian Ocean?" Magnus asked. 

And so their noon turned to afternoon and the afternoon turned to evening. When it came time to make dinner, they cooked together a simple meal from eggs and vegetables and noodles that Magnus had in his cottage. The whole time they talked about all and everything. Alec told Magnus about his job and his adventures on his boat and his charity projects. Magnus told Alec the chosen parts of his life on the island and about his friends in New York. He didn't, though, mention anything yet that related to the shadow world. 

They both felt that the company was very nice. There weren't any awkward silent moments at all, as there normally would be when two strangers meet, but the conversation rolled easily and effortlessly. The easy connection felt so refreshing and good. And despite the fact that both of them were happy about their life choices where they were mostly alone, they really were content to have some company. 

After dinner, when it was already dark, Magnus took Alec back to his boat, since Alec didn't yet know the island very well. When they arrived at the beach where Alec's boat was about ten meters from the shoreline, Alec turned to face Magnus. 

"Thank you for this night, Magnus," Alec said and smiled. "I had a very fun time with you." 

"Any time, Alec. I had fun with you too," Magnus mused. 

"How do you feel about me staying here a couple of days? I have a lot of writing that needs to be done, and it would be easier to do when I don't have to take care of the sailing. I would also really like to explore that mangrove beach and those coral reefs more, if you don't mind," Alec asked hoping that in that way he maybe could get to know this interesting, beautiful man more too. 

" I don't mind at all! It is so nice to have somebody else on this island for once," Magnus replied and fist pumped Alec's shoulder as a friendly gesture. "Would you like to come again over and have dinner with me tomorrow then?" He asked. He was very much looking forward to having Alec longer on his island! 

"Well that sounds lovely, thank you, I'd love to come," Alec said. 

"Great, see you tomorrow then. Good night, Alec," Magnus said. 

"Good night, Magnus, see you," Alec said and as soon as Magnus had turned around and disappeared into the darkness, he took his clothes off and swam to his boat, which he found easily as there were always a small lamp on. He didn't know though, that Magnus had turned around once more and just happened to see from afar, by the light of the lamp Alec had on his boat, how Alec climbed up onto his boat by a ladder, naked as the day he was born. Yeah, what an interesting meeting indeed, Magnus thought, and took his path back to his home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here is the chapter 5 for you.  
> 😊  
> Enjoy!  
> 💜

chapter 5

During the following week Alec tried to make maximum use of his long stop. He took two days to maintain his boat and also a couple of proper office days, since he hadn't had time for that in ages. He emailed all his findings to his science team, updated his instagram, and had long back and forth message exchanges with Jace about Myanmar and the charity project there. He sailed around the island in his boat and took samples from different kinds of places as the ecosystems were very rich and varied a lot depending of how near one was to the river or the mangroves. He also finished his science article about particular planktons in the Indian Ocean and how climate change has affected the fragile plankton ecosystems in that area, since he had already gathered all the data, analysed it and now had the results he needed to write it. All this kept him occupied during the daytime and every evening Magnus came to ask him to eat dinner with him. They got to know each other pretty well during their meals. 

Magnus was very interested in the topic of climate change and the results Alec and his team has found so far. He was impressed with the charity project Alec was running and asked all kinds of questions about that. Alec asked about Magnus's life on the island and his life in New York. He wanted to see Magnus's small vegetable garden, the different kinds of fruit trees and the way he made goatcheese. The evenings stretched out every time close to midnight, before Alec finally forced himself to leave for his boat. There was quite obvious tension around them, which built continuously evening after evening. There were quite a few lingering looks, small touches and a little bit of flirting here and there. They hadn't acted nor said anything yet, but just enjoyed each other’s company and talked a lot, which was a joy for both of them. 

On the second day of the second week Alec had stayed on the island, he returned from his diving adventures in the mangrove forest to find Magnus waiting for him on the beach, a picnic basket in his hand. 

"Good morning, Alec," he greeted. "Did you find anything interesting?" he asked loudly because of the distance between them. 

Magnus had previously found the idea that there could be something interesting inside the mangrove forest, a little bit funny. He had just thought that it looked messy and disgusting with all those dark slippery branches and roots all around, even now when it was high tide and most of the roots were under water. Magnus had to admit to himself that he was actually almost frightened by the idea that he might need to go there; the mangroves were like some nightmare labyrinth, where one can't find an escape. But he wasn't a biologist, so maybe he wasn't the best person to judge, since he hadn't even been there by himself. Alec thought about the mangroves very differently. Yesterday while they had cooked dinner together, he had explained excitedly to Magnus how the mangroves held a whole ecosystem inside it. He explained that the beach ecosystem, as well as the whole sea and its coastal ecosystem, depended on them. Because the mangroves circulated nutrients, was a safe place for many baby fish from small ones to the big sharks, before they moved to the open sea, and was the home for many birds, reptiles, insects and even crabs. And along with the mangroves many other plants also grew that were rare anywhere else. And after Alec's passionate explanation, even Magnus had to admit that he really hadn't ever even thought of it that way himself before. And now, when he watched how Alec swam in the water towards him in his diving suit, he found himself a little bit excited too, wondering what Alec had found. 

Alec swam to the ladder of his boat, took the oxygen mask away from his face and smiled widely to Magnus who was standing on the beach. Magnus felt his heart give a little jump because of that smile. Something deep inside him had started to stir and while he wasn’t sure what it was, he couldn’t let that feeling escape him just yet. He was almost one hundred percent sure that the tension between them was something more than just friendship. He had felt Alec's eyes on him several times, and noticed that Alec didn't get frightened when they accidentally touched each other. Quite the opposite actually, when he thought about it. And the way Alec's eyes shone and his cheeks blushed when Magnus flirted with him was almost too obvious, if Magnus knew anything at all. And by the demons and the angels, he knew a lot about that matter. 

At this present moment, Magnus answered Alec's smile happily and waited for what Alec was going to say. 

"Yeah. Quite a lot actually. Do you want to come up and look for yourself?" Alec shouted back and raised a videocamera in his hand. When Magnus looked a little bit confused, he said: "Just wait a second, and I'll come to help you." q

Then he climbed onto his boat to take off his divingsuit and put on his bermuda swimming shorts. Then he took a small float with him in order to keep Magnus's clothes and picnic basket above the surface of the water and climbed down to the water again. 

While waiting, Magnus realised that he was supposed to swim by himself to Alec's boat. He was very much looking forward to seeing the inside too, so he didn't think long about whether to avoid swimming or not. Of course, he could have portalled straight to the deck of the boat, so that Alec didn't have to go to so much trouble for him, but how was he going to explain that? So he let it all happen slowly and in the human way, well almost. When Alec disappeared to his cabin, he snapped his fingers and changed his clothes to black swimshorts as his other clothes appeared on top of his basket. 

Alec found it a little bit difficult at first to focus on the task at hand when he saw Magnus standing in the water only in his swimming shorts. But who wouldn't have, Magnus was so totally perfect with all his well-formed muscles on his stomach, chest and arms. And even if his legs were half hidden in shorts Alec could see the strong tight muscles hiding behind the fabric. Alec wasn't drooling, at all. No he wasn't. Focus, Alec, he ordered himself and then he swam towards Magnus. 

Alec had felt some spark between them during the week. And the way Magnus flirted with him and didn't exactly correct his parrots when they cooed their flirty words at both of them during the evenings, were signals that Alec felt under his skin. When added to almost accidental small lingering touches here and there when they were tidying Magnus's kitchen and washing dishes by hand after dinner, there were surely hints of something growing between them. It was almost like they were both just waiting until the right moment. 

Magnus walked deeper into the water and kept the picnic basket high in order to keep it dry. When Alec arrived next to him he settled the basket on the top of the float and followed Alec towards the boat. He couldn't stop the image of the merman appear again in his mind when he watched how effortlessly Alec swam even as he pushed the float before him. Magnus of course could swim pretty well himself, but the way Alec swam was a totally different story. It was like the water was just a different element for Alec to move in. The only thing that was missing was the tail.

Once they’d climbed up on the deck of Alec's boat, Alec offered Magnus his cabin to change his clothes. He changed by himself on the deck. When Magnus was ready, Alec went inside the cabin too and gave a tour of his equipment to Magnus. Magnus was confused and impressed about all the computers and other stuff that belonged to the laboratory, and how organized and practical everything was.

"You really have everything and even more than one can imagine needing here," he said, and walked to the small bookshelf and took a random book in his hands. 

"Yeah, I've been living on this boat almost one and half years now, so I have made it like home," Alec replied and shrugged his shoulders. He watched how Magnus turned the pages of the book, an interested expression on his face. The book was one of many books Alec had written himself. It recounted the sharks and how they affected the marine ecosystem, and how changing climate had affected them. The book was full of information, but there were also many really good pictures, which Alec had taken. The book was made more for a wider audience, in order to raise awareness of the environment. If it had been written for the scientific community, there wouldn't have been so many pictures or such a decorative layout. 

Magnus turned to the last page of the book, where he saw a picture of Alec with a short text beside it, which introduced him. "Alexander Lightwood," he read. " Your full name is Alexander? It is such a beautiful name, why don't you use it?" he asked. 

"Well, I guess it has just always been so, that everybody has called me Alec for almost as long as I can remember. It was maybe first because my sister Izzy couldn't pronounce the letters D or R, when she was young, and when she finally learnt to pronounce those letters everyone was so used to the name Alec, including me, that it kind of stayed that way. Only at the university, where I got my doctorate, am I known as Alexander," Alec explained. 

" I see, " Magnus said. " Do you mind if I use it? I wouldn't dare to waste such a gorgeous name now I know it exists."

Alec blushed a little. "Thank you Magnus. I don't mind, you can call me by my full name, if you like," he said shyly. 

"All right, Alexander it is then," Magnus said softly. 

Alec felt a shiver go down his back because of the way his full name sounded when Magnus said it. He imagined how Magnus would say his name on... other... occasions using those perfect lips... He cleared his throat and decided to quickly change the subject in order to calm himself.

"Do you want to see the video now, that I shot by the mangroves?" he asked.

"Okay, sure, I would love to, but maybe we should eat first, " Magnus suggested and stepped aside to give Alec room to link his camera and computer together. 

After they had eaten the lunch Magnus had brought in his basket and Alec had his camera and computer ready, Alec pulled two small chairs from under the table and gestured Magnus to sit down. Then he tapped the keyboard of his computer and the video started to roll on the screen. Magnus watched in fascination how the world under the surface became a reality before his eyes.

"Look, those tiny fish are actually sea bass. They live their first year in the safety of the mangroves.... ....And that is a hook-nosed sea snake. I believe it has a nest somewhere near, because this female is almost ready to lay her eggs. Look how fat her stomach is!... And wait... ... there, can you see those small holes in the sand?... Those are actually the places where the crabs that emerge only at low tide live. They hide there when the water is high...." Alec explained a passionate spark in his eyes. 

Magnus just nodded and aahhed and oohhed along. He really couldn't have imagined that the nature inside those mangroves was so beautiful, colourful and so very full of different creatures.

" Thank you for showing me this Alec, " he said, awe in his eyes, when the video and Alec's excited explanation ended. 

"No problem, Magnus, It is actually very nice to show my findings to someone like this for once, and not through the internet." Alec said and smiled widely. 

Suddenly Magnus realised that they were sitting very close to each other, their legs almost touching. His breath hitched in his throat when Alec bent forward and over him to take the cable of the camera out of the computer. The cable dropped onto Magnus's lap and they both reached for it at the same time. Magnus felt a tingle on his skin when Alec's hand lingered on his thigh and touched his hand before pulling his own hand away.

"Sorry..." Alec started and straightened up. He felt his cheeks redden a little bit. He was rather shaken by the physical contact with Magnus and his sheer physical presence so close to him. He hadn’t ever experienced something like this before and he didn’t really know what to do with himself. It all felt so different than on any other occasion he had been this close to anyone. It felt so right. He felt so safe.

"It's all right," Magnus murmured and raised his hand to push the lock of Alec's hair that had dropped to his forehead, back up. He looked straight into Alec’s eyes, who watched him back very intensely. Magnus let his thumb linger over Alec's cheek a little bit longer and then let his hand drop back to his lap, but Alec grabbed it in his hand and led their joined hands towards his own lips. A question clear in his eyes, Alec kissed Magnus's knuckles softly and carefully just once. And when Magnus didn't take his hand away, Alec turned over Magnus's hand and opened the fist with a tender touch of his hand. Then he placed very sensual, intimate kisses to Magnus's wrist while caressing Magnus’s fingers and palm with both of his hands.

Magnus carefully placed his hand on Alec's thigh and started to stroke the inner side of it with his thumb. With his other hand he started to caress Alec's jaw, whilst Alec continued his path of kisses up from his wrist to the inside of his forearm and back again. Alec opened the button of Magnus's sleeve, and started to draw circles with his other hand up Magnus's arm, while the other hand found a place on Magnus's waist. Alec adjusted his leg to give them both a better position and let a small sound escape from his mouth when he felt Magnus’s hand move on his thigh more intensely. 

"Magnus..." Alec whispered against Magnus's wrist. He let Magnus's hand go when it moved behind his neck and raised his own hands to Magnus's neck. He ran his fingers through Magnus’s hair on the nape of his neck and pulled Magnus near. They looked into each other’s eyes, then their gazes dropped to each other’s lips and then they were kissing. The kiss was tender and rough and hungry and soft all at the same time. Both of their hands wandered around each other’s bodies; chests, stomachs, shoulders, hips, thighs... When they finally pulled apart in order to breathe and leaned their foreheads together they were both breathless but still grinned widely at each other.

They rose in unison and Alec started to lead them backwards to his bed, which was in a wide area under his boat's prow. Before they managed to get that far, Magnus pushed him back on the doorframe of the sleeping corner. It was really the only place to be able to do that, since all the walls in Alec's cabin were occupied for some purpose. While grinding their groins together, they started to take each others clothes off. The loose thin fabric pants left first, from both of them, and then it was the turn of the buttons of their shirts. Despite the higher quality of Magnus's clothes, they wore almost identical pants and long sleeved buttoned shits, because those kinds of clothes were simply the only practical choice in the kind of weather where one needed protection from the burning sun, but still wanted to be comfortable without too tight clothes which could cause sweating and sores from the seams. So basically, after the shirts and pants were gone, they both had only boxers left. 

Magnus stepped apart and admired Alec's amazing body. "Oh, I've been dying to touch this body since the day I saw you on Saturday last week," he said and started to kiss his way down to Alec's chest. 

"Wait, what?" Alec asked breathlessly. "I thought it was Sunday," he said and once again brought Magnus's hand to his lips. Those hands were mesmerizing! 

"No," Magnus said between kisses. "I saw you before... but I didn't believe, that ...you were real," he admitted and took one of Alec's nipples in his mouth while circling the other with his forefinger and thumb. 

Alec stopped his kisses on Magnus's palm. "What? Where, When?" he asked and turned them around. Then he took hold of Magnus's shoulders, pulled him up and forced Magnus to look at him and smiled tenderly. 

"Magnus. What do you mean you thought I wasn't real?" he asked. 

"On that night, by the pool." Magnus admitted and looked down to Alec's chest when he continued embarrassed: " I though you were a merman, or some other spiritual creature of the sea,... or some crazy creation of my imagination...." Then he looked straight into Alec's eyes, which were surprised, but tender. He didn't find a hint of anger or any other bad reaction in there. "You were so beautiful and with such confidence in your body as you dove there like a fish, or a merman... " he explained, while caressing Alec's chest hairs and shoulders with his hands. 

Alec's face broke into a wide grin. "A merman, hmm?" he asked. "Mermen don't exist, Magnus" he said and kissed Magnus again. He roamed his hands over Magnus's gorgeous torso settling them on Magnus's hips while rolling their groins against each other. 

Magnus pushed Alec back against the opposite doorframe, clasped both of his hands around Alec's neck and started to kiss down Alec's jaw and throat. He was relieved that Alec wasn't mad at him for hiding behind the bushes and watching Alec whilst he thought he was alone. "And how do you know that, for sure?" Magnus asked and started to nip below and behind Alec's ear. He felt how Alec shivered because of that and realized that he had found one of Alec's erogenous spots over there. He continued his open mouthed kisses and sucking in that area, took hold of Alec's hands, raised them over his head and pinned them against the doorframe with his other hand. Then he started to trail his other hand's fingers over Alec's chest and stomach, while Alec tilted his head to give him better access to his neck. Magnus's fingers found a few other erogenous spots on Alec's upper body, and Magnus felt how Alec was starting to breathe more heavily and becoming like melted wax in his hands. He had explored those spots enough now to know how to treat them in order to get delicious reactions from his partner. He didn't even have to use magic for that. 

Alec found himself panting helplessly, back against the doorframe, and hands pinned over his head. He was going to say something more about Magnus's imagination and about the fact that Magnus had seen him naked but that he hadn't yet seen Magnus that way. He was going to declare how unfair that was and then correct the situation by peeling Magnus's boxers away with his teeth maybe. But somehow he felt himself to turn jelly in Magnus's hands instead. Magnus seemed to have found some mysterious spots on his body that made him hornier than he had ever been before. He had had several partners over the years, but never ever had he known that those kinds of sensitive spots even existed on his body. Of course, he knew what felt good on himself and had maybe caressed those spots on his partners unconsciously, but they had always mostly still gone like... straight to the point kind of way. He hadn't known that those spots could be used this way. And Magnus hadn't even touched his boxers yet!

"Ah... Magnus... how did you... ah... oh.. could we...oh my god, Magnus.." Alec trailed off when Magnus dropped to his knees and started to kiss and stroke his inner thighs from the spot next to his knee and little by little rose up closer and closer to the area that was still covered in fabric. 

Alec grabbed Magnus's hands and pulled him back up. "Magnus..." he said and placed a sensual kiss on Magnus's mouth. "I don't know how you managed to make me so like jelly, but I don't think I can stand up any longer," he murmured breathlessly against Magnus's lips. 

"All right darling," Magnus said in a silky voice. "Take me to your bed then, so I can finish what I have started." 

Alec took Magnus's hand and led him three steps down to the area that was under his boat's prow. The roof was lower there so that they couldn't stand straight, and the custom-made mattress that was cut just to the form of the prow, was on the floor, without a bed under it. There were only a few small windows between the line of the ceiling and the wall and they were covered by curtains, so that soft darkness surrounded them. 

"Well this looks comfy," Magnus said and guided Alec backwards onto the bed. He crawled up over Alec and whispered in his ear: "Now, stay still, and let me take care of you." 

And so Alec did. He let all his other thoughts slip away from his mind and just let himself be led by the moment.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 6th chapter is here. 
> 
> Thnk you for all your comments and kudos! 💜
> 
> Have a lovely weekend!  
> 😊

Chapter 6 

Alec woke up when the sound of an alarm made its way through his sleep-foggy brain. He blinked once. And twice. And then he realised the reality around him. Magnus's head was lying on his chest and their legs were tangled and almost knotted together with Alec's bedclothes. Alec shook gently but surely Magnus's shoulders and started hurriedly disentangling himself from the bundle they had created.

"Magnus, wake up!" He said as he rose from the bed and started to put his swimshorts on. "Magnus! Wake up!" he said louder. How come he could sleep in this noise!

Alec didn't have more time to see whether Magnus was awake or not. He jumped the three stairs in one step, up to his cabin and hurried to put methodically everything in their safety places. While doing that, he glanced at his weather radar, which had set off the alarm. As he switched off the alarm he saw that he had one hour and forty-five minutes before the center of the tropical storm arrived. He grabbed the picnic basket they had forgotten on the floor and put it into one of the secured fiberglass boxes on the deck. 

Luckily then, Magnus finally came up, hair ruffled and pants half way up. If Alec had time he would have wrapped that adorable man in his arms, but they didn't have time for that kind of luxury right now. 

"What's wrong, Alexander?" Magnus asked when he saw Alec doing something with the ropes and sails of his boat, a worried but focused expression on his face. 

"The alarm went off. It's a storm from the South. It is never a good sign. It could become a hurricane. You should go and check that your home and animals are safe. I'll try to lead my boat towards the sandy beach and then somehow tie it up to a tree. It’s the only option. If I leave it here it would get broken when it crashes on the rocks at the bottom of the sea." Alec explained as he ran around the deck while pulling and tying the ropes. 

Magnus was immediately up to date with the situation. While Alec was focused on his own tasks, he waved his hands and snapped his fingers a couple of times. Now his cottage and all his animal friends and his garden were guarded under a safety spell. He saw how his blue magic shone in the distance, between the trees where his home was. That was the easiest part. Now he needed to make sure that Alec understood that he could help. The wind was starting to get stronger and few drops of water fell on the tip of Magnus's nose. Magnus knew that he had no choice. He had to make sure that Alec was safe and his boat survived too, even if Alec should hate him after he got to know what he was. 

"Alexander!" Magnus shouted and grabbed Alec's arm. 

"Magnus, you should go, the sooner the better. It is still safe to swim to the beach," Alec interrupted firmly, and started to lower the ladders over the edge of the deck. He took a life vest from one of the fiberglass boxes. "Here, put this on." he said more tenderly and gave the life vest to Magnus and started to put another one on himself. 

Magnus put the offered life vest on himself and shook his head. Alec was so intensely occupied with saving lives and his boat that he couldn't focus on anything else, which was totally understandable. So Magnus needed to figure out some other strategy. Maybe the only solution was to show things in action somehow. 

"Alexander, please, I need to know your plan before I go. I need to know that you are going to be okay. Please." Magnus tried gently and took Alec's hand in his. 

Alec stopped in his tracks and squeezed Magnus's hand. "All right. Don't worry, I've done this many times before," he reassured Magnus. "Once I have checked all the ropes and the things inside, I close the door to my cabin, lift the anchor up, and attach that long thick rope over there to some strong-looking tree," he explained and waved his hand towards the ropes. "Then I install a portable winch between the rope and the tree and start to winch the boat towards the shore. It is not going to be easy, but it is doable. I just need to hurry before the waves grow too high," he explained. 

Magnus was looking in Alec's eyes and saw there the surety and total control of the situation. Then he made his decision. "All right. Give me the rope and the winch then. I can take them to the beach and tie them to the tree when I go, so you don't have to swim back and forth. Okay? Please," Magnus asked.

Alec thought for only a few seconds, but because there was no time to argue things he just nodded. "Okay, then. That would really help me a lot. Thank you." Alec said and kissed Magnus hard and passionately. "Be careful," he pleaded and looked deep into Magnus's eyes, which sparked with a hint of gold again, as they had done when they were intimate together just a few hours ago. Alec didn't have time to think nor ask Magnus about it right now, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. 

"You too," Magnus replied and squeezed Alec's hand one more time. He felt how his glamour that kept his cat eyes hidden was starting to crack again. How come he was developing feelings towards a man who he had met properly just a few days ago? He tried to calm down his heart that was drumming fast under his chest. And it wasn't drumming because of the obvious danger that was coming. About that Magnus had confidence that one of the most powerful warlocks in the world could deal with the situation. No. His heart was wild because Alec was so heart-breakingly beautiful when he moved around the boat that was now rocking from one side to the other along with waves that already had a lot of foam on the edges of them. The raw power Alec used when he controlled his sailing boat was so hot that Magnus didn't know what to do with himself. Magnus shook his head at his thoughts and forced himself to focus. Now wasn't a good time for daydreaming, at all. 

They started to follow their plan. Alec settled a long rope over Magnus's head and under his other arm and gave the heavy back bag, where the winch was, to Magnus. Magnus put the bag on his back and tied the ropes of it over his chest and stomach. 

"Are you sure about this? Your load is pretty heavy.." Alec asked worry in his eyes and voice. Even if he knew that the life vest certification was for up to 150 kilograms and could easily carry Magnus, the rope and the winch, the scenario with a non-functioning life vest wasn't the only danger. It was also the strong waves that could throw a grown man like a tiny mosquito anywhere they wanted, if the man wasn't careful. Luckily they were only about 70 meters from the beach, and the waves weren’t too high yet. 

"Yes I am, Darling. If it helps you a little, I surfed a lot when I was younger. I know how to swim through the waves. Don't worry about me. I know I can do this." Magnus said. He didn't mention, though, that "younger" meant that his last surf-board experience was in 1826 when he and Ragnor were on vacation in Hawaii, nor the fact that he could portal away from the waves if he felt himself getting too uncomfortable. 

Magnus climbed down and started to swim to the beach. If he was honest, he actually enjoyed the physical and mental challenge this situation placed him in. He had lived so long, that new experiences were a rare luxury. So he decided to try and swim without using any magic, if it wasn't necessary. The swim took quite a long time, or at least it felt so, because the waves grew stronger and stronger all the time and they tried to take him in the wrong direction. 

When he finally reached the beach, he was physically exhausted. He just sat on his knees for a while on the wet sand. Then he rose to his feet and turned around. He saw Alec worriedly peeking over the edge of the deck, waiting for the sign that he was ok. He smiled tenderly to Alec and waved his hand at him.

A wide grin broke on Alec's handsome face as he waved back. Then he disappeared again back to his task of saving the boat. 

When Magnus saw that Alec had lifted the anchor and was inside the cabin for a moment, he decided to act. He put the rope and the winch down next to the nearest tree of the jungle and took a position where he could focus properly. Then he started to move the boat slowly towards the beach with his magic.

Alec was checking the weather radar inside the cabin again. Fifty minutes left. The rain started beating hard on the roof of the cabin and Alec saw how the waves were growing in size again. He thanked every possible gods existing that Magnus was safe, since he wasn't used to being in a boat that was under the mercy of a storm. Alec started to walk towards the door, preparing himself to swim the distance between the boat and the beach, when he felt the boat moving. Oh great, here we go, the rope had snapped, he thought. He was almost starting to feel a little panic, when he realised that the boat wasn’t moving uncontrollably in the sea, but towards the beach with calm but sure and smooth movements. What the heck? Was Magnus using the winch? He should have been on his way to his cottage a long time ago. Alec glanced through the window in the direction of the beach and the vision he saw there, wasn't anything he could have imagined. Magnus was standing on the beach, without a shirt and in wet swimshorts. His hands were raised and he was surrounded by some kind of blue light? fire? And that blue...what ever...thing... seemed to reach his boat too causing the movement. He held onto the safety lines that hung from the roof for that purpose and just watched, mouth open, what was happening before his eyes.

It took only ten minutes to get Alec's boat safely to the beach. When Magnus was satisfied with the result he snapped his fingers and tied the rope around a strong looking tree, which was growing a little bit farther in the forest. Then he safeguarded the whole boat with his safety spell, and while doing that he checked if the boat had sustained any damage. Luckily it hadn't. He was just finishing his work, when Alec stumbled out from the cabin.

"Magnus!" Alec shouted breathlessly. He felt his legs wobble a little, so he needed to take a support from some rope as he stood on the deck of his boat. He watched in awe, as the blue, flames? , that left from Magnus's hands, licked the outer walls of his boat, fixing every possible small default there was from the many occasions before this storm. He watched how Magnus’s face expressed an intense focus and his eyes, oh god! Magnus's eyes were shining like cat's eyes in the dark. The masculine way Magnus stood in the rain, legs a little bit apart from each other, hands raised and waving in complicated-looking patterns in the air, looked so unfairly hot and beautiful. And when adding those mesmerizing golden eyes, Alec thought that even if he had seen many gorgeous sea creatures, he had never in his life seen something so beautiful, amazing and sexy all at the same time. He couldn't find it in himself to be upset about Magnus's hidden side, where he could use... magic?... a spell?.. some hidden power that was linked to the universe? Alec watched in excitement as the flames melted away and the boat was like new after that. 

The rain had calmed down for a while, but the wind was whistling strongly around them. Alec climbed down the ladder to the wet sand and ran to Magnus, who dropped his hands to his side and looked at Alec with a vulnerable expression on his face. His eyes were once again dark brown, but Alec could still see some glints of shining gold here and there. 

"Magnus!" Alec said breathlessly and took hold of Magnus's upper arms. "What was that? Magnus, are you all right?" he asked and took Magnus's hands in his and started to turn them in his hands in order to see if the blue flames had hurt Magnus. Then he caressed Magnus's cheek with his other hand and brushed his thumb lightly over Magnus's eyelids. 

"Those eyes," Alec said, awe in his voice. "Could you... how you.... why they...?" He felt that he couldn't find the right words to ask the questions. He wanted to ask all the questions at the same time. And also, more than anything, he wanted to see those unbelievably gorgeous eyes again. But he wasn't sure if it was polite to ask Magnus to show them. Then he noticed that Magnus was worried about something. He gently swiped Magnus's wet hair back from his forehead and took Magnus's head between his hands and sought his eyes with his own. 

"What's wrong, Magnus? Are you hurt? Did something hit you when you swam here? Please Magnus, tell me what's wrong?" Alec asked worriedly. 

Magnus collected all his courage and looked into those beautiful green eyes of Alec’s. 

"Would you let me explain this all to you, in peace, please," he asked in a vulnerable small voice, tears glistening in his eyes. He was so relieved that Alec was safe and that Alec didn't seem to be as upset or angry with him as Magnus expected he would be. That was a start anyway, something to go on. He didn't regret that he had saved Alec and his boat, no matter what else happened now. "We should hurry to my cottage now, the storm is almost here. I promise to try to answer all your questions, Alexander, once we are inside." he said. 

"Yeah, okay." Alec simply said, just a little bit confused about the vulnerability in Magnus's voice. There must be something very wrong if that caused Magnus to almost cry. But he agreed with Magnus nevertheless, because it wasn't safe to stand on the beach when a possible hurricane was going to arrive soon.

Together they ran to the safety of Magnus's magical shelter, which was like a bubble over Magnus's house and yard. There life continued like on any normal day and the animals came to meet them as if there wasn't any storm at all around them. 

Once inside, Magnus took clean and dry clothes for both of them from his walk-in-closet, warmed by magic the leftovers from the previous night's dinner for them and sat opposite to Alec at his dining table. Then he took one slow deep breath, looked Alec straight in the eyes, and prepared himself for what was going to happen next.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter 7.  
> 😊

Chapter 7

Alec was worried. He had sensed that something heavy had settled between them suddenly and that Magnus was upset about something. He felt that he should give Magnus the time to collect himself, so he decided to wait until Magnus broke the silence. Magnus had said on the beach that he was going to answer all Alec's questions, and Alec trusted that it was going to happen too. He just couldn't think of a reason why Magnus had acted as if something was suddenly so terribly wrong. Had he hurt himself, or had Alec said or done something that caused this, he didn't know. As far as he was concerned, the magic thing had been amazing and powerful and beautiful, so the issue couldn't be about that. So he waited. 

"All right," Magnus finally said quietly, after they had eaten in almost uncomfortable silence. He wanted to handle this in the right way and as sensitively as he could. He needed to focus on Alexander right now and push his own emotions and discomfort back for a while. Because Alexander was the one that had experienced something that might be frightening and could even cause a trauma. 

"At first, I need to know if you are okay. Did the sudden movement of the boat cause any hits or falls for you? And how do you feel about that... everything... else that you saw?" Magnus asked, looked down and started to twiddle the fabric of tablecloth in his hands. He couldn't look Alec in the eyes because he was afraid of what he might find there. So instead he just listened to the storm around his safety bubble and waited for what Alec was going to say. 

"I mean, I was surprised by the sudden movement, but I didn't hit myself on anything. I'm totally okay, Magnus. And thanks to you, I'm not even as tired as I normally am in these kinds of situations," Alec started. "And about what you did, if that is what you mean by everything else I saw, that was probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I don't understand at all, what it was, and I was hoping that you could explain that to me, Magnus. But that aside, it was beautiful, stunning, amazing and exciting. The power in those... flames... was totally something else, and your eyes.. Oh Magnus, I would that I could just experience all that over again, only to be able to see those mesmerizing eyes again." Alec replied in excitement. He had no idea what his words caused in Magnus heart.

While Alec spoke, Magnus had raised his head, watched and listened very confused with the things Alec said about him and about what had happened. He struggled to understand Alec's words. Could it really be, that some mundane might be more excited than frightened about his magic? he thought. He didn't even start to think about the things Alexander said about his eyes, because he knew that if he let himself to go down that path, he couldn't keep his calm posture anymore. So once again, he took deep breaths and prepared himself to explain things to Alexander. This time, though, it felt a little bit easier, since he knew that Alexander was okay and wasn't afraid of him nor would he judge him in the first instance

"Do you really think..." Magnus started, and cleared his throat. "I men, do you really accept my magic? Just like that?" he asked, because he needed to hear it once again, just in case he had misunderstood something. He settled his eyes once again somewhere between his plate and his hands.

Alec reached out and fished one of Magnus's hands in his. "Yeah. I can't see any reason why I wouldn't accept you, Magnus. I see now the same person that I saw yesterday at this table. And..." Alec took a pause and thought for a moment, how to vocalize how he felt and what he thought. "... I'm a scientist, Magnus. So I need more information before I can say what I really think about this. But it also means, that if I see something with my bare eyes, it is not something I can just throw away and decide that it never happened. It is not my place to judge or accept things that I see either, but to find the explanation and try to look behind the first term experience. And I know that what I saw, was something amazing and beautiful. I can't explain it with the experiences I have, but I was hoping that you can explain it to me further, as I said earlier, " he said. Then he paused and thought again, before continuing: "And I also know what I feel. I care about you, Magnus. And it's not only because you happen to be the only person I've met in many weeks. I feel that there is more between us, not just sex, but something I wish I could explore with you, together. I want to get to know you, as a person, better. ... And also that... thing... that I saw on the beach, is part of you, isn't it? I am ready to hear all about that and all the other things about you, if only you’ll let me." He almost whispered the last words. He tried to look in Magnus's eyes, but the other man was still avoiding eye contact. 

Magnus had never ever met someone who wasn't related to the Shadow World, who could look at this kind of situation in such a totally practical way, like his magic was just like all other mysteries of the universe, which just hadn't been researched enough. Alec indeed was a scientist, he didn't judge, but instead was interested in a pure, child-like way. There were only the facts that mattered and no room for buts or ifs, until someone was able to prove otherwise. Magnus carefully raised his head and looked Alec in the eyes. When he saw neither hesitation nor fear, he finally let himself trust that he could tell his story to this man. Now that he knew that Alec was a scientist and took things as they were, instead of telling some fantasy story, he decided to start differently than he had first planned. It might be good to start from the beginning. 

"There is another world, beside the human world, that is called the Shadow World," Magnus started, and when Alec nodded he continued. "In the Shadow World there are demons and angels, those you might have heard of before, and then there are human-like creatures who are related to either demons or to angels. And what we have in common between us all, is, that we are all part-human too. Some of us have demon blood in our veins and some have angel blood. There are warlocks, seelies, vampires, werewolves and shadowhunters. Some of us live a short life like you humans do, and some of us are immortal. We all live our lives normally just like you humans, but generally humans don’t know about us, because we don't want to find ourselves in some circus or in an amusement park. So what I'm telling you now, needs to be kept a secret. Do you understand?" Magnus asked. No matter the fact that he didn't want to live in the Shadow World anymore, he wasn't going to put others in danger. 

"Yes, okay, I understand. I promise. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me this." Alec said without hesitation, and tried his best to hide his excitement about this new world he was going to hear about. He reminded himself that it was about Magnus's life, so he calmed himself down, and nodded to Magnus as a sign to continue. 

"I trust you Alec, I don't know why, but I do. And I think you deserve an explanation anyway," Magnus admitted. Then he focused back on his story.

"I'm a warlock. The son of the most powerful demon king of the realm called Edom, which is some kind of kingdom in the demon world. A long time ago, that demon enchanted a young Indonesian woman, made love to her, and left. The said woman got pregnant and after nine months, the son, me, was born. I had a normal childhood until I turned five years old and my demon eyes appeared on display for the first time, when I got angry about something. My mother... " Magnus swallowed a lump in his throat and squeezed Alec's hand that was still in his. ".. she... she couldn't tolerate the memory, that she had been with a demon and had given birth to a son who was, as she believed, going to be a demon too. So she committed suicide... " Magnus exhaled and inhaled several long deep breaths.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Magnus!" Alec said, tears in his eyes. He took Magnus's hand in both of his and caressed it tenderly. 

"It was long time ago," Magnus said and looked out of the window. "The point is, that I'm immortal, and that I have lived a very, very long time. I was born in a time when there weren’t proper calendars in Indonesia. And after my mother died, my father, the demon, Asmodeus, found me and took me with him to Edom. I was there quite long time, maybe a hundred, or two hundred years, I don't know exactly how long because time is different down there. Finally I got tired of my father’s way of ruling his realm with manipulative, emotionless and cruel actions, and I left. When I came back to this realm, it was the year 1685."

" I moved to England, where I met Ragnor and we became friends quite quickly. He is a warlock too. Together we travelled around the world and sometime in the early 18th century we settled in the New World, America. We moved to the city we now know as New York, back then it was just a small village. There we met Catarina, who had lived there along with the Cherokees for a long time. From them she learnt how to heal people and she is still the most capable warlock I know in healing magic." Magnus felt himself relax little by little, while he told his story to Alexander, who listened intensely the whole time. 

"Even if Europeans say they found America at the end of the 15th century, the Shadow World had already been there a long time, and alongside us, of course the original people in America had been there too. We have our own rules and own politics between our different races," he continued. "And even if we are half demons, the greater demons and lesser demons are the biggest enemy of our world and not least because they don't care about the rule that the Shadow World needs to be a secret. Instead they try to destroy both, the human - and the Shadow World by terrorizing people and Shadow World members equally, if only by eating us, or using us for whatever terrifying reason they might have." Magnus took a long pause and thought about what he should tell next." 

" So.... you are... a warlock....? And you, warlocks..... do magic? Does every warlock have eyes like you? And.... and do the other... Shadow Worlders... use magic too? " Alec asked hesitantly like he was carefully testing every word he spoke. There was so much new information at once that he didn't know where to start first. This Shadow World sounded so exciting and powerful and like a fairy tale and real all at the same time. Alec thought how these different creatures lived around the world in their human form like any other human and had managed to keep their secrets for centuries. Now Alec suddenly understood why Magnus had thought that him being a merman was as big a possibility as any other thing that existed. If you lived in a world where all myths and legends seemed to be true and real, it was maybe not strange at all to see mermen or mermaids swimming in the pool of an abandoned island. 

Alec realized that he had zoned out a bit and saw how Magnus seemed to wait to have his full attention before he decided to continue his story. So he looked Magnus in the eyes and nodded as a sign that he was listening again.

"Yes," Magnus said. "I'm a warlock. I can magic almost anything I want," he explained and snapped his fingers. He watched how Alec's eyes grew big when their dishes cleaned themselves and disappeared to the cabinets in one fast second. "Though I like to do things the human way here on the island as much as possible. It is new for me and it is rare to find new things for a man as old as me, to have new experiences." he said smiling. "The eyes you saw are my personal warlock mark. Every warlock has a different mark. Ragnor has green horns on his head and Catarina's skin is actually blue. In every day life we like to glamour our marks away, so we don't attract any attention. The Warlocks are the only ones who have this kind of strong magic. The seelies have a part of it and they also have other mysterious ways to trick people. The vampires can use enchanto, it is almost like hypnotising people, if they want. The werewolves are inhumanly strong and they can change from human form to wolf as often as they like. Mostly they hang with a group of people they call a pack even if they are normally in human form. The Shadowhunters have runes - they look like tattoos- which they can activate if they need glamour, strength, flexibility, night sight and so on. As their name implies, they are hunters. They hunt the demons and protect the human world from dangerous Shadow World things. " Magnus explained.

It felt weird to explain things from the beginning to someone. He told Alec about all the many creatures in the Shadow World. And as the afternoon started to turn to evening, and the stormy sky darkened, he magicked a couple of candles to the table. Then he told how between the shadowhunters and downwolders there had been many difficult times and how they had been close to a civil war many times because of the prejudices on both sides. He told how the position of high warlock was offered for him and how he finally got tired of all that silly politics and moved to his island. He found that it felt easy and refreshing, like a weigh was lifted from his heart, to talk all those things to an outsider who wasn't involved in that world personally. 

Alec was silent for a long time after Magnus's explanation. He brushed his thumb over Magnus's hand once in a while, but mostly he just focused on putting things in order in his head as Magnus waited patiently. One could almost see how the wheels rolled in Alec's head, as he tried to adjust the new information along with all he already knew about the world. He nodded silently, more to himself than Magnus, when he felt that all the new things had found a place in his head. It wasn't that he hadn't faced paranormal mysteries before, because he had. He had heard people talking about mysterious flames on the streets and then some roaring until the streets were silent and empty again. He had seen how someone had run in a blur of movement, when that person thought that no one was looking. He had seen several times a pair of wolf-like eyes in the darkness in the middle of the metropolis, where there should not be those kinds of big animals. He had seen a couple of times, someone disappearing into thin air around a street corner when Alec had, after a night at the bar, run behind them in order to say something to them. Then he had just thought that maybe the person went in another direction than he thought, or that they knew some secret door that was hiding there or something.

And he had seen these magicians on tv, who could fool people with illusions. Were those really just illusions or, in the perspective Alec knew now, real magic instead? And he had thought more than once, what is this fancy for a Bloody Mary- or sangria drinks with the few pale faced men in the bar he regularly went to when he was in his home town. Those guys always drank that same drink. Now, Alec realized, that maybe those guys just liked to order red drinks for totally another reason. Maybe those men were vampires, since they always came in after the sun has set. The bartender must have known something more about their diet... and that bartender himself. His almost unnatural fairy-like movements had caught Alec's eyes many times. Was that man really a human, or totally something else...?

"Do you know if there happens to be a Shadow Worlder bar in Wellington, New Zealand?" Alec blurted out after all his conclusions. It wasn't the question he had planned to ask, but it was the first question that came to his mind.

"Hmm.. let me think, Ragnor mentioned something when he was visiting in Wellington with his friend the other day.. " Magnus said. "... The Fireside bar, that was the name of it!"

"Yeah, exactly!" Alec said excitedly. "I knew there was something different about the people who visit that bar." Alec said. "Now, everything suddenly makes so much more sense to me," he continued grinning. Then he became serious again. He clasped Magnus's other hand in his hands too and sought Magnus's eyes. "Thank you, Magnus, for telling me all this. I am persuaded by this and feel honoured and I promise to keep this as a secret. I totally understand why you guys don't want to show yourself to humans. There are too many bad people who only want to make money from everything."

When Magnus just nodded silently as a sign of agreement, Alec wanted to ask one question more than anything. "Could you... can I...?... How you...? When.... ah, never mind." he babbled and felt his cheeks redden as he lowered his eyes to his lap.

Magnus was surprised at Alec's sudden shyness. He squeezed Alec's hands in his encouragingly. "What is it, Alexander? " he asked softly. He had no idea what could cause such a reaction in this analytic, brave person he saw just a moment ago.

"It's just...I hope it is not too personal a question..." Alec hesitated. "I.... I wanted to ask about your eyes..."

"My eyes?" Magnus asked surprised. Then he remembered the way Alec had praised them earlier. Oh. "What about my eyes, Alec," he asked, and felt himself shy suddenly.

"I was just wondering.... in what kind of situations the colour changes? I mean, obviously, in situations where you use a lot of your power your eyes are on display too, as I saw on the beach. But are there... other... occasions too, where you would like to show them instead of glamouring them away..... I mean... .. correct me if I'm wrong, but... I saw something, this morning... in your eyes, when we... you know...? " Alec trailed off.

"Oh..." Magnus said. Now he realized where this conversation was heading. Had he let his glamour slip in that moment of passion? And if he had, he hadn't planned to admit it any time soon to anyone. But now, when Alec asked so innocently and directly... How could he not give him the answer. Alec seemed to have that kind of power over him. He just couldn't lie to him.  
"Well," Magnus cleared his throat. "My eyes are more likely to turn to what they really are in situations where strong emotions are involved, whether they are positive or negative, like fear, hate, love or passion. Normally I try to glamour them on all occasions, because there are rarely humans, or Shadow Worlders for that matter, who don't feel disgusted by them. Sometimes the glamouring is more difficult, when my body or mind takes the lead. Normally then, I try to keep at least my eyes closed, but.. " he said a little bit embarrassed.

"But Magnus!" Alec almost shouted. "How could anyone feel disgusted by your eyes!?" He couldn't understand how something so beautiful was forced to be hidden because of that. He felt almost angry at anyone who dared to say such a thing to Magnus. He rose from his seat, went next to Magnus and dropped to his knees beside him. Then he adjusted Magnus to face him, took Magnus head between his hands and waited until Magnus looked him in the eyes. "Magnus. Those real eyes of yours....They are so beautiful. I've never seen anything so mesmerizing and wonderful in my entire life. Please, never think that you need to hide them from me!" he said almost desperately.

Magnus felt how the glamour over his eyes cracked. He closed his eyes as Alec brushed his thumbs over his cheeks and softly over his eyelids. "Please Magnus. Can I see them?" Alec whispered. Suddenly the moment felt very intimate and fragile. The breath caught in Magnus’s throat as he felt Alec's tender fingers caress his face. For a moment they both focused on just breathing. Alec nudged Magnus's legs apart with his body so that he could kneel between Magnus's legs and be nearer. Then he slowly bent forward and gave soft pecks to Magnus's eyelids, first to the left, then to the right. His other hand wandered to take hold of Magnus's other hand, as the other cupped Magnus's jaw and cheek. Alec brushed soft kisses along Magnus's cheeks and below his ear. "It's just me, Magnus. I like your eyes. Please" Alec breathed into Magnus's ear and made Magnus's whole body shiver. Then he trailed his kisses back to Magnus's cheeks, brushed his lips over Magnus's upper lip and leaned his forehead against Magnus's. Then he just waited.

Magnus swallowed the lump in his throat. He took hold of Alec's shoulder with the hand that wasn't squeezing Alec's hand, and took-in the man before him. Alec had taken all that Magnus had told him so well and like it was the only possible way to take it. He didn't judge or run away, but instead asked questions just like when he researched anything he found on the seabed. Magnus had rarely met a person, except his friends, who had so easily and totally accepted him just the way he was. No buts. No ifs. Just the pure facts, the way they were.

Magnus inhaled deeply and let his eyelids rise open with his exhale. And what he saw there were two emerald-green eyes watching him tenderly.

Alec moved apart from Magnus in order to see better. "Magnus!" he breathed. He had seen a hint of the colour of Magnus's eyes before, when they were in his boat's cabin, and the second time by the beach, but it was nothing compared to the way he saw them now! The black pupils shone like tourmalines in the middle, and around them were a mix of amber, gold and copper colours like a flames. His eyes shone in the almost dark room and made a small golden shadows on Magnus's cheeks. Alec was a gone man against this kind of beauty. "Magnus. They are beautiful. You are absolutely beautiful." Alec said breathlessly. He closed his eyes, kissed Magnus softly on the mouth and once again leaned his forehead against Magnus's.

And Magnus didn't know at all what to say. He was so full of different kinds of emotions that he didn't know what to do with all of them. He felt vulnerable and he needed time to adjust to all his emotions. But he didn't want to let Alec go. So he rose from his seat, pulled Alec up with him and said: "Alexander... can I... just lay with you ... I need you to hold me tonight. Please."

Alec simply nodded and followed Magnus to his bedchamber, which was on the second floor. The stairs led there from the back of the livingroom-area. They lay awake a long time, whispering a few words to one another and mostly just listening to the storm as it settled down some time during the early hours of the following morning.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you, at first, for all the kudos and wonderful comments! They all means a lot to me! 💜
> 
> And thank you for my amazing, always supporting, beta @Malecfan09 ! 💕 Go and give some love for her, as she had just started to post the wonderful stories of her own! 
> 
> So along with Malec fluff, in this chapter, the climate change is mentioned, and there is some lessons about the marine environment. I hope it is not too boring.... I've added few links to the end of the chapter in notes, if you are interested.
> 
> Enjoy! 🦈🐙🐠

Chapter 8

Alec woke up the next morning when Dorian and Alfonso knocked on the window of Magnus's bedroom. 

"Breakfast, darling, breakfast, breakfast." Dorian sang and rocked himself from his left leg to the right. 

Alfonso seemed to have chosen a different way to get what he wanted. "Bebe, looove you, bebe, bebe, bebe, loooove you, love you bebe, bebe." he chirped and nodded along with his words. 

Alec laughed at the silly birds and turned to lie on his side. 

Magnus huffed at his parrots beside Alec. He was sitting already, back against the head of the bed, and reading a book in the light of the sun, which was already high. 

" I'm sorry about them, I was so occupied with this new novel of Dan Brown, that I didn't realize that they had arrived," he said. Then he put the book to his bedside table snapped his fingers to fill the parrot's bowl, magicked the blind curtain over the window and rolled himself straight against Alec's chest. "Good morning. Did you slept well?" he murmured against Alec's chest hairs. 

"Good morning," Alec mumbled into Magnus's silky hair. He caressed the black hair with his hand tenderly, and continued: "I slept well, thanks. How are you feeling today?" 

Last night had been very special. They had shared their fears and vulnerabilities, their deepest wishes and expectations of their lives. Even if they didn't do anything physical, it was still maybe the most intimate experience of Alec's life. He had told Magnus things that he hadn't told anyone else, and Magnus had told him many things about his life in the past, that had made Alec understand that despite the many people he had met, those who accepted him were rare. It hadn't even been a question for Alec, of course he accepted Magnus the way he was. He couldn't imagine any other way to react to the fact that Magnus was a warlock. It was a fact, so there wasn't any way to argue against it. He felt anger towards all those people who had treated Magnus so badly over the years. In Magnus's perspective, he also could understand now why Alec's reaction had been so strange to him, even if it felt like the natural way to think in Alec's opinion. 

"Better. Thank you, Alexander, for being here with me last night. It's really been ages since I have felt so vulnerable and safe at the same time with another person." Magnus said. 

"Thank you, for letting me in and showing who you really are, Magnus." Alec replied. 

Magnus started to trail his fingers tenderly up and down of Alec's spine, and started to kiss his way up from Alec's chest to his neck and jaw. Alec took hold of Magnus's waist and shoulder and tilted his head back in order to give Magnus better access. 

Magnus was just starting to climb on top of Alec, when Alec's stomach gave a loud rumble. 

"Oh," Magnus chuckled. "I had some other plans in this bed with you, but I think I should feed you first." He gave a soft peck to Alec's lips and then pulled Alec with him out of the bed. 

After a delicious breakfast that included fresh eggs, goatcheese, bread and fresh fruits from the forest, Alec took the plates to the kitchen and started to wash-up. Magnus came behind him and cleaned it all at once with a snap of his fingers. "I don't feel like tidying today," he said and pushed Alec back against the counter on his shoulders. 

"So you just thought that we're going to spend the whole day in?" Alec asked and tried his best to focus a little longer before Magnus's talented hands once again took him apart. Yeah, he thought, having an experienced partner in bed was something else... and if the experience included about five hundred years... yeah... no wonder Magnus seemed to know all possible techniques... "So... you are not... even a bit of interested.... in... what kind of treasures.. the storm... has thrown on the beach?..." he asked breathlessly as he took hold on the edge of the sink behind him while Magnus raised the hem of his shirt, brushing his fingers over his skin below the navel and playing on his nipple with his mouth. 

"I am. But later." Magnus mumbled against Alec's chest hair and sucked Alec's nipple into his mouth. 

.... 

They finally found their way out of Magnus's cabin after a long time in bed and a light lunch, about an hour after noon. They walked hand in hand on the water line of the sea towards Alec's boat. The storm had thrown all kinds of things on the beach. There were water plants, old wet wood from some ancient boat, seashells, small pieces of corals etc. Bright orange crabs collected seaweed in their mouths and seabirds fought loudly over the dead fish farther along the beach. Alec picked up one little piece of bright pink coral. 

"Did you know, that corals can be replanted from a little piece like this?" he asked. "There is a charity organisation, actually, that does that as their main work. They plant corals again in the areas where pollution and climate change has harmed or destroyed them. They have managed to rebuild whole coral reefs quite successfully. Corals are important to the whole marine ecosystem, so it is important to take care of them," Alec explained. 

" Really? " Magnus said and picked up a piece of coral for himself from the sand. It was almost as hard as stone, but the outside of it was full of purple curving forms, that felt little bit softer. "It is hard to believe that something this hard could be planted successfully," he mumbled in his thoughts. " You said that there was a place where the corals were destroyed by pollution. How exactly did that happen?" 

Alec explained how pollution in the air made the climate warmer and at the same time the rivers that flowed from the lands to the sea brought too many nutrients together with dirt from the factories into the seawater. The nutrients and the warmth caused the growth of fast growing seaweed and algae to rule the whole place, until the corals didn't get enough oxygen or sunlight through the surface, and couldn't make it in polluted, dirty water. Along with corals, thousands of marine species, including fishes, plants and planktons, suffered too, because they depended on healthy coral reefs. So the result of all that was that the whole fragile and rich ecosystem almost disappeared. And that of course caused local fishermen’s income to change and they needed to travel farther out to sea to able to get what buyers wanted. This in turn caused damage to other wild fish populations that already suffered because of the lack of coral reefs, where the fish babies normally grew before going to the open sea. It wasn't until the tourists didn't want to come anymore to the beaches, or people didn't get the fish they wanted on their plates anymore, that the governments finally realized the problem. And then laws were added to protect marine life and stop the free flow of nutrients and pollutants into the natural habitat. The climate change had also made the water warmer, which was also bad for corals, but luckily, when other harmful things were eliminated, they could adjust to a little bit warmer water. So the groups that planted corals could start their work. 

Magnus listened silently, awe in his eyes. He was fascinated by the passion Alexander had about protecting the climate and the environment. Then he suddenly realized, that the Shadow World hadn't done much for the environment during the years. What a shame! Even if many of the community saw the results of the climate change very clearly, as they had lived a long time, Magnus had met only a few that did something about it. Not even the seelies, who were the most dependent on nature, had organized anything big. Everyone seemed to just focus on their own small businesses and politics and let the mundanes take care of the world around them. His huffs and mumbling caught Alec's attention. 

"Magnus, what are you thinking about that makes you look so angry suddenly?" Alec asked, stepping to face Magnus and caressing Magnus's eyebrows in order to get them back to their normal line. 

"Oh, I just realized, that the Shadow World should do their part in the work of protecting our environment and stopping climate change," Magnus said and frustratedly shook his head. "I hate to admit that we haven't done as much as we should have over the years." 

Magnus thought that this was the thing that should change. Everybody who was part of this earth should be involved in saving the environment. Magnus decided there and then, that he himself was going to change the shadow worlders’ reckless attitude. He looked Alec in the eyes and said: "Show me, Alexander, what you see. I want to understand this more. Because despite this island and rare vacations to somewhere once in a while, I haven't been involved with the environment almost at all, as I've lived in Brooklyn most of my life. So please, show me. In the way you make other people understand, make me too," he pleaded and squeezed Alec's hands. 

Magnus watched a glint of excitement rise in Alec's eyes as he made a plan of how to show things to Magnus. This was something Alec knew how to do, he was in his own territory. The excitement grew greater when he realized that he didn't need to show videos or pictures to Magnus, but he could show things first hand. 

"Have you ever used a diving suit, or dived in the sea, Magnus?" Alec asked. 

"No, I haven't, actually," Magnus admitted. "But what has my lack of experience about that to do with a climate change?" he added confusedly. 

"Oh, it has everything to do with the matter, Magnus!" Alec said and smiled widely. "If you put my samples and microbiology and planktons to one side, my whole job depends of the beauty of the marine life around us. No matter how much I talk to people about the results of my research, they won’t, on the whole, understand it. But when they see the beauty of nature, and how much their own life depends on it, and realize that it could be destroyed and disappear if we don't change our every day habits, they understand much better." he explained. "So, will you come under the surface with me, Magnus, so I can show you what I mean." 

"Oh, now I understand.." Magnus said. "In that case, I would love to dive under the surface with you!" 

"Great! Let's go and get the boat back on the water again, and then you can see if Simon's old diving suit fits you. You two are almost the same size, I think. The suit is in one of the boxes on my deck." Alec said. 

When they arrived at the boat, Alec climbed easily onto his boat, and checked that all was in order after the storm. Thanks to Magnus's spell, everything was clean and dry and better than ever. Then Alec started to rummage in his belongings on the deck. He had ten big aluminum pipes there to help roll the boat back to the water. When he took the first of them, Magnus, who had followed him to the boat, stopped him. 

"Wait, Alexander, could you please let me help you," Magnus said, and before Alec had time to throw the first pipe onto the sand, Magnus raised his hands. 

"Oh, Magnus, you don't have to...." Alec tried. 

"Nonsense!" Magnus interrupted. "I'm not going to just sit and watch how you exhaust yourself. This is easy magic for me, so just sit down and hold onto something." he ordered, as blue flames already surrounded the tips of his fingers. 

Alec sat on one of the boxes and admired how Magnus just waved his hands and snapped his fingers a few times effortlessly, causing the boat to slide slowly and smoothly back to the water. This was something he should just get used to, Alec thought and shook his head. Aside from the fact that the magic itself was exciting and new to Alec, the most exciting thing for Alec was Magnus. The sure, dance-like movements together with the power that left from Magnus's hands was something Alec believed he wouldn't get bored of watching ever. Magnus was so sexy when he stood there, in his harem pants, bare feet and without a shirt on, all those gorgeous muscles on display, waving his hands in a magical way. Even if it was only couple of hours since they had emerged from the bed, Alec felt his own trousers tighten just from the sight of Magnus. He was so focused on Magnus that he almost missed the way the boat moved back to the place where it had been in the water. He needed to shake his head clear. Wait, was Magnus asking something? 

"Umm, sorry, what did you say?" Alec asked. 

Magnus grinned and swayed his hips in a flirtatious way when he saw how openly Alec admired him. During their little moment in his cottage this morning, he had almost got back his confidence again, and Alec's open and honest admiring look was like a balsam to his vulnerable heart and soul. "I was just asking, is this a good place to stay, or should I take your boat deeper?" he said. 

Alec blushed and looked at Magnus shyly through his eyelashes.. "Err... umm... if you don't mind moving us a little more, it would be easier to dive into the water about one hundred meters farther..." he said then and forced himself to look straight into Magnus's eyes and answer his flirtatious smile. Why was he blushing again? It was no secret anymore that he felt that Magnus was attractive. And there was no one else around. He collected his trembling confidence back together and went to stand beside Magnus. Once Magnus had moved the boat little bit further, he took Magnus's hand in his and said:

"Do you have any idea how hot you look when you use your magic?" He raised Magnus's hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles tenderly. 

"Alexander," Magnus purred and took both of Alec's hands and gathered them onto his lower back and placed his own hands around Alec's neck. "And here I thought that you were the one who had other plans than just lying in bed with me the whole day..." 

"I know," Alec murmured against Magnus's neck. "But I can't help my mind from going down that path when you look so good." He caressed Magnus's sunny warm skin with his hands and started to kiss his shoulder. 

"Oh, darling, we have all time in the universe for that later when the sun sets. Now I really want to see and understand what you were talking about, while the sun is still high on the sky," Magnus said softly and took Alec's earlobe in his mouth and bit it tenderly. Then he once again took Alec's hands in his and stepped backwards. He chuckled when Alec pouted a little bit. "Don't get me wrong, Alexander, believe me, I really want you too. But if we start something now, we are not going to be able to leave your cabin until it is dark..." 

"Yeah, I know. You are right," Alec finally admitted. Then he glanced at the sun and realised that it was about two o'clock in afternoon. They had just enough time for both practicing and diving. He went to get the anchor and threw it to the water. "Okay, let's do this. At first we need to practice." 

Alec explained everything before they put the diving-suits on, Simon's suit fitted well enough, and there where it didn't, Magnus adjusted it better by magic. And then they jumped into the water and Alec taught Magnus everything he needed to know about oxygen tanks and diving. 

After few hours they were ready to go and dive on the coral reef. Alec swam to face Magnus and smiled. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked. 

"I'm good. Excited, but good. I think I can handle the mask and the hand marks and everything..." Magnus said and repeated all the instructions Alec had given him in his head. 

"Great! So one more thing, Magnus, and then we can go." Alec said and took Magnus's hand in his. "Whatever predator we might see there, there is nothing to be worried about. They are not interested in us as food, as we don't belong to their diet. So a long as you don't have any bleeding wound, they will hardly even recognize us. If something hits you or you touch the reef and you get a wound, please tell me immediately, because the sharks smell that from far. Only in that case will we need to go back to the boat. So stay calm, swim next to me and enjoy yourself. I will take a video of our dive so we can watch it later. Okay? "

"Yeah, okay." Magnus said. He was indeed very excited. This was his very first time deep under the surface of the sea. Of course, he had seen sea life documentaries and had even once been in a submarine, but never before had he done it all by himself. The diving itself was exciting, and not least because he was able to do something new in only a mundane way. 

"Good, let's go then." Alec said and fixed the oxygen mask on his face. Then he checked that Magnus's mask was safely in place too, took Magnus's hand in his and together they dove under the surface. Alec led Magnus to the coral reefs, where were many things to see. 

Magnus was amazed. He just swam on the spot and watched how thousands of yellow, silver and blue fish schools moved along in waves. When a monstrous sea bass swam near, all the small fishes disappeared afar or hid in the holes and caves of the corals and the reef. They saw how the bass hunted and took a quite big silvery fish in one big and fast bite. 

Alec pointed out an octopus coming out from a big cave. It’s skin changed colour from brown to red to purple depending on the colour of its background. It attacked a big crab that crawled on the seabed and swallowed it in its mysterious mouth. 

The blood that had been left from the fish the sea bass had hunted, attracted five lemon sharks to the area. Magnus took Alec's hand and together they sank lower, closer to the seabed, as they watched how the sharks swam circle after circle over their heads. All the other fishes hid too, as long as those gorgeous predators prowled around. 

Magnus watched in awe as everything slowly came back to normal again after the sharks had gone. He basked in the feeling of the relaxing waves, sun-rays, all the beautiful colours and the firm squeeze of Alec's hand. He could have never guessed that here, deep in the turquoise water, he would find so calming a place. When Alec started to swim up to the surface, Magnus finally realized that they had been there for so long already. He felt that he could stay there forever!

They swam towards the boat and climbed to the deck. And then finally it was time to take the mask, helmet-hood and fins off. 

"Oh my goodness, Alexander! That was amazing!" Magnus exclaimed. "I can't understand how I hadn't done this before in my entire life!" 

Alec smiled happily at Magnus. "Yeah, wasn't it amazing! I'm so happy that I was able to introduce marine life to you!" He tenderly ruffled Magnus's hair that had flattened under the hoodie. Then he took hold of Magnus's shoulders and looked honestly into his eyes. "I'm also so happy that I was able to share this experience with you," he said softly. 

Magnus rubbed his thumb over Alec's cheek and then settled his hand against Alec's jaw. "Thank you, Alexander, for being a patient teacher and taking me with you. I'll never forget this," he murmured and gave a small peck to Alec's lips. He grinned when he felt hunger rumble in his stomach and started to peel the diving suit off. "I think a dinner is in order next, or what do you think?" 

Alec had zoned out and looked at Magnus with just a sappy expression on his face when Magnus peeled the diving suit off. In his eyes was another kind of hunger, even if he had to admit that his stomach insisted on something in it too. How was it possible that he had found someone, who was willing to enjoy the same things as he did. And what was this zoning out- thing that he had the tendancy to do all the time now when Magnus was around? Yeah, he knew the reason deep in his heart already. He felt something towards this man before him. And he was looking forward to exploring soon what those feelings were. Slowly he started to take his own diving suit off and shook his head once again in order to come back to reality as he saw how Magnus waved his hand and magicked a delicious smelling dinner to the small table in his cabin. "Yeah, let's eat," he said and followed Magnus inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is actually a group that plants corals. Here is their instagram account:
> 
> https://instagram.com/coralgardeners
> 
> As the words could never describe perfectly how amazing the nature is I recommend to see it by your own eyes. So If you like to know where I have been looking for inspiration in this wonderful, beautiful life under the surface, Please check these accounts up: 
> 
> https://instagram.com/mitty
> 
> https://instagram.com/paulnicklen
> 
> and 
> 
> https://instagram.com/enricsala
> 
> 🐠🐠🐙🦈


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter 9 is all Malec fluff.  
> 💜  
> Enjoy!

Chapter 9.

"I should call my family," Alec said in an almost sleepy voice as he suddenly remembered his family who were waiting for news from him. 

They were lying on a blanket beside the natural pool in the soft rays of the afternoon sun that came through the branches of the jungle trees. In the morning, they had hiked around the whole island, found many interesting-looking flowers, reptiles and insects and a small cave in that same mountain where the waterfall and the pool was, but on the opposite side of it. Alec had taken videos and pictures and researched all they had found with the same kind of scientific passion he had about marine life. 

Magnus had found that he absorbed part of Alec's excitement for himself too, and felt like he had just discovered the wild life on his island for the very first time, even if he had lived there by himself for quite a long time. Alec's company was refreshing and challenged Magnus all the time by forcing him to think and see the world differently, and offering him new experiences all the time. After a long time of just letting life go by, Magnus felt that now he was living fully and enjoying every single moment. 

Now, Magnus was lying with his head on Alec's stomach. He was almost sleeping with the relaxing feeling of Alec's fingers, that brushed lazily through his hair and massaged his skull. After their hike, they had skinny-dipped in the pool, made love in the water and ate a picnic Magnus had summoned on their blanket. Now, as they were satiated in all possible ways they decided to take a little nap. 

"Hmmm?" Magnus hummed his answer. 

"I want to tell them that I am going to stay here for a while. And... I also thought that I would like to tell them that I've met someone," Alec said hesitantly. 

Magnus felt how Alec's hand against his head stopped its movements. He turned sideways settling his ear over Alec's heart, and stretching his hand up to Alec's cheek. "I had been thinking the same thing, Alexander, I want to tell to my friends about you," he said quietly. 

Alec raised his head and adjusted the pillow he had under his head so that he was able to look in Magnus's eyes. "So... are you...my boyfriend then?" Alec asked, a glint in his eyes. 

"Oh, well, it has been a very long time since I was a boy, but I think I've wanted nothing more in a long time, than being your boyfriend, Alexander. I know we haven't known each other very long yet, but I'm already looking forward to spending more time with you," Magnus said quietly while caressing Alec's face and hair. 

"Me too," Alec replied and pulled Magnus over himself and after he had Magnus where he wanted him to be, he peppered Magnus's face with small kisses on his forehead and over his nose and cheeks. Then he took Magnus's head in his hands and kissed him on the mouth with a soft brush of his lips. He waited until Magnus released his glamour and showed his true eyes and felt like he could get lost to the deepness of them. He found that he wouldn't care if he did, because he could watch those eyes for the rest of his life and would still not get bored of them. "Beautiful," he whispered. "I think I've fallen in love with you, Magnus. I'm sorry if this is too early but..." 

"I think I love you too," Magnus interrupted. He looked in those stunning green eyes and felt that he really loved this man. He didn't know how it was possible to develop such big feelings so early on, but couldn't find any reason why not. They were alone on a faraway island, were attracted to each other, had spent almost all the time together after their first kiss and had experienced a lot during their time together. Their relationship was definitely old enough to say those three little words. 

Alec rolled them around so that he was on top of Magnus. "I love you," he whispered in Magnus ear and gave a sensual open-mouthed kiss behind Magnus's ear. He felt how Magnus shivered at the kiss. Then he rose up and pulled Magnus with him. "I think we need to milk the goats soon, and then there is something I want to cook with that coconut and the plantain we found. I am not hungry yet, but I know we are both going to be soon," he said and laughed tenderly at Magnus who looked adorable with his hair ruffled after it had dried in the sun after their swimming. As they hadn't any other disturbances, their never-ending hunger was what interrupted their make-out sessions quite often, as the fresh air and physical activity of walking to every place they visited in the island increased their appetite. 

"Okay, my love, I think you are right. We don't want our scientist to get too hungry." Magnus chuckled and snapped his fingers to send the blanket, picnic basket, the fruits they had found and their towels back to his cottage. Then they took their path to his home hand in hand. 

After their dinner, which was a delicious vegetable coconut curry, Alec insisted that he would do the dishes. He still wasn't used to having a person who could do magic, around. When his hands were deep in the dishwater, Magnus came to hug him against his back. He brushed his hands under Alec's shirt and started to kiss his way up from Alec's waist. 

" Magnus. You are disturbing me," Alec complained humour in his voice. He shook his head when Magnus brought his hand against his stomach and snapped his fingers and made all the dishes along with his shirt disappear. Very handy indeed! He took Magnus's hands in his and started to kiss them from the wrist to the end of every finger. He felt how Magnus focused on one particular spot on his neck, sucking and biting it, causing a shiver go down through his spine. 

"Magnus... if you are planning to make me jello again... could we please at least... move to your bedroom, because I'm not sure....if I want to have comments from your parrots.... in the middle of a heated moment.." Alec breathed, and turned around. He lifted Magnus to sit on the counter next to the sink and took hold of Magnus's shoulders and pushed his legs apart so that he could kiss him more easily. "And I would love to learn these techniques of yours too... could you explain to me what those spots are, so I could maybe give you the same treatment some day," he said against Magnus's kiss-swollen lips. 

"Well..." Magnus said and kissed below Alec's right ear and ran his fingers over Alec's stomach and back. "These 'techniques', as you say, are the result of the knowledge of erogenous spots, acupunctural spots, karma sutra, Indian massage routines and many hundreds of years of practice and studying the human body..." he bit Alec's ear gently and brushed his fingers against just the right spot on Alec's hip, and Alec needed to take hold of the table in order to keep himself up. "Oh, Alexander, your reactions are so delicious," Magnus breathed against Alec's skin, when Alec dropped his forehead on Magnus's shoulder as his whole body shivered. "And then..." Magnus continued and let his blue magic tickle between Alec's leg for just one or two seconds. "... there is also sensual magic, if you like, and I might have a couple of aphrodisiac drinks to add to the list too..." he said and ran his finger from the nape of Alec's neck and down his spine, using just a hint of magic in order to make it feel even better. He chuckled and supported Alec from his waist when Alec's legs started to shake. 

"Magnus, please...stop teasing me," Alec chanted and took hold of Magnus's thighs with his hands and squeezed hard. 

Alec had never been so aroused in his life and apart from his shirt, they both still had all their clothes on. And once again they hadn't even touched the critical places yet. He thought that he couldn't keep himself in his pants much longer. And the way he saw how Magnus was as aroused as he was, didn't help either. When he felt that he could stand again, he pulled Magnus down from the counter by his hand, ran to the back corner of Magnus's livingroom and started to climb the stairs up to Magnus's bedroom hand in hand with Magnus. 

Alec went to sit on the edge of the bed, and Magnus walked to stand between his legs. He snapped his fingers to roll the blind curtain down and light candles around his bedroom. He brushed his fingers through Alec's soft brown curls as Alec started to unbutton his shirt from the bottom to the top. 

"You know, no matter all my experiences with this, there has never quite been a lover like you before, Alexander," Magnus purred, a little bit breathlessly

"Wait, what?" Alec asked and stopped his task for a moment. Even if he had just minutes ago joked about Magnus's skills, he suddenly realized how inexperienced he himself was. The ghost of Magnus's experiences and immortality had hovered over his head ever since he got to know who Magnus really was. More than once he had felt himself unsure when he thought of how many amazing lovers Magnus might have had in the past. He couldn't help himself comparing his own lack of experience once in a while with Magnus's. Of course, he had always let the moment lead and forgot those thoughts when they were in the middle of their passion. In the meanwhile he thought that they were good as long as they stayed on this island, but that there might be much better possibilities for Magnus somewhere else.

Magnus saw how Alec's eyebrows scrunched together as they always did when he was deep in his thoughts. Alec's movements turned unsure and finally he just leaned his forehead against Magnus's stomach. "Stop doing that, Alexander," he said and gently pulled Alec's hair in order to turn Alec's head back and look at him in the eyes. 

"Stop doing what, Magnus," Alec said shyly. 

"You are thinking so loudly that I wonder whether my chickens can hear you in the garden." Magnus said kindly. "Stop doubting yourself, Alexander."

Alec closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He had maybe been too obvious with this right now even if normally he could hide his thoughts quite well. This was the thing they hadn't talk about, and even if they had planned to do totally different things, this ghost needed to be pulled out of the closet. The good mood was over anyway. 

"I'm sorry for killing the mood..." Alec said and avoided Magnus's intense look.

Magnus sighed and sat sideways on Alec's lap. "Talk to me, Alexander," he said and put his other hand around Alec's shoulder and took hold of Alec's hand with the other. 

"It's just... how could I ever be enough for you when you could get anyone you want if we were somewhere else, as I'm just... me." Alec said and suddenly almost felt tears in his eyes. Maybe he should let go now and let Magnus live his life in better company... 

" Oh, Alexander," Magnus said and placing a hand on Alec’s jaw raised Alec's head forcing Alec to look him in the eyes. 

" Have you heard me ever once complaining, hmm?"

"No, but..." Alec tried.

"I meant what I said. There really hasn't been anyone like you before. And I mean it in a good way, Alexander. You are enough, and even more than that, " Magnus said. He rose from Alec's lap and maneuvered Alec backwards on the bed. After Alec had adjusted himself properly against the pillows he went to straddle Alec's hips. "No one has ever accepted me the way you do," he said and brushed his hands over Alec's hard, well-formed stomach muscles and through his chest hair. "No one has ever worshipped my real eyes as you do...," he said and bent forward to kiss Alec's shoulders. 

"No one has ever shown me how wonderful the nature around us is," he murmured against Alec's neck and trailed a line of small kisses up to Alec's ear. "No one has ever focused only on me, the way you do, when we make love. It's like everything around us disappears, and it is only me you see," he whispered next to Alec's ear. 

"When I'm with you, I feel loved and cherished. And it seems like your body knows subconsciously how I like to be touched," he said and took support with his elbows on both side of Alec's head and kissed him fiercely on the mouth. "Besides, your body is like a creation of Michelangelo and your soul..." He kissed Alec again long and passionately. "... your soul... I think I've never met anything so beautiful and honest in my entire life. Your soul touches something deep in me, it feels like you have unlocked something," he said as tears glistened in his eyes. He looked in those emerald green eyes of Alec's and saw pure honesty and adoration there. Then he rolled his hips against Alec's and said while punctuating every word with a kiss all over Alec's face, neck, shoulders and chest: "So.. stop.. comparing... yourself... to.. my... lovers... in the past. .... you... are.. my... present... moment,... and I.. don't... want to be... anywhere... else." He rose to sit again and decided that there were too many layers between them. So he snapped his fingers to magic the rest of their clothes off.

"Do you need me to continue?" Magnus asked and grinned down at Alec who looked stunning in the soft candlelight.

"No. I think you’ve persuaded me enough," Alec said shyly. He had never before heard such things about himself. He had no words with which to answer those kinds of statements.

So he looked in those beautiful eyes of Magnus's and said the only thing he knew how to say in that moment: "I love you, Magnus." 

"I love you too, darling," Magnus said and let the glamour fall from his eyes, causing a soft gasp to escape from Alec's lips. "Now where were we...?" he asked then and continued the treatment he had started in his kitchen a while ago


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 to go! 😊
> 
> By the way, if you you get bored while waiting updates and like to read more from me, there is other story from me as well. 'Come, I show you where the wild thymes grow'- story will take you to Scotland with Malec. There Magnus is the chef and Alec is the gardener. 🙂
> 
> Go and check also the stories my amazing beta @Malecfan09 had written. They are all so good! 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 10

Alec was sitting in his boat's cabin listening to his mother explaining the newest girlfriend drama his little brother Max had had. He had just told his mother about Magnus and how he felt that he had found the love of his life. Maryse Lightwood had exclaimed so loudly that she had woken up Alec's dad, Robert, who had just fallen asleep after his night shift at the hospital where he worked as a head doctor in ICU. It was quite early on Saturday morning in New Zealand, as they had arranged their phone call before Maryse's shift as a gastroenterology surgeon. Sometimes Alec wondered how his parents had made their relationship work as they never seemed to be awake or even at home at the same time. 

As Robert had then been awake too, Alec had recounted to his parents the whole story about how he happened to meet a lone man on the farthest island before the open Indian Ocean, and how he had got to know the man and eventually fallen in love. His parents were very surprised about the coincidence, but nevertheless so so happy for Alec. They hoped that they would be able to make a proper skype call soon and suggested that Magnus should join the call. Alec had promised to think about it. 

Now, after Robert had gone back to sleep, Maryse had started to tell Alec how Max had brought a girl to the Sunday dinner. Of course, Max, as young and naive as he was, had totally forgotten to tell his parents that his girlfriend was a vegan. Maryse of course had just made her well-known Burgundy stew with beef in it so the situation had been little bit awkward. But the girlfriend Mariah, had been such a sweet soul and just smiled and said that because Maryse didn't know her diet, there was no harm done and she was perfectly fine eating cooked carrots, cauliflower and green peas which were the side dishes of their dinner. After that the conversation had gone smoothly, and Maryse had soon felt a connection with Mariah. She was just explaining that Mariah was interested in cooking and knitting the way Maryse herself was, when Alec heard a small humm and a thud, and then the rattle of Magnus's fingers against the doorframe. He glanced at his boyfriend and grinned widely when he saw Magnus in his New York visiting clothes. How come his boyfriend could be so stunning and beautiful all the time! He waved his hand to Magnus as a sign to step inside and accepted a silent peck from him. 

"Yeah, sounds like Max had good taste... .... not as good as mine, though..." Alec chuckled and took Magnus's hand in his and settled it against his heart. "I think I need to go now... yep...." He looked adoringly into Magnus's eyes. 

" I love you too, mom... ..Give my love to father and Max too.... Thanks, I will.. .... yeah, I know.... ... okay... .... bye... bye mom." He switched off his phone and guided Magnus to sit on his lap. "Hi, my love," he murmured and nuzzled his nose in Magnus's neck. "Mmmm, you smell good, " he said. 

Magnus caressed Alec's cheek and gave him a proper kiss on the mouth. "Hello, darling. It is sandalwood, my self-made cologne. I'm glad you like it. How's your family?" he asked. 

" They are fine, Max has a new girlfriend. Mom likes her. I just hope my parents don't overwhelm that poor girl with too much hospitality. My mom is like a hurricane, when she is excited by something," Alec explained and shook his head. "Greetings from them, by the way. Mom is so happy for me that I have finally found someone worth telling them about." he grinned. 

"Oh thank you! I hope we shall meet each other some day..." Magnus said. "But I'm the lucky one here, I think." He rose from Alec's lap and leaned down once more to give him a kiss. "Are you ready to go?" he then asked. 

They were going to go together to New York, as Magnus wanted to introduce Alec to his friends. Alec had offered his mobile phone for Magnus to be able to contact them and let them know that Magnus was going to bring company, but Magnus had once again showed him a new thing from the Shadow World: a fire message. The way the ancient Shadow World community communicated, fascinated Alec deeply. Even if he was used to using social media pretty much all the time for his work, he really understood the reasons why Magnus didn't want to use it on his island. He had to admit that there was a certain charm to reading magazines on paper, as he had joined Magnus's Sunday mornings and read the magazines together with him. 

"Yep, I think so. Though I'm little bit nervous, " Alec admitted. 

"Oh, don't worry, it'll go just fine. They might be a little over protective sometimes, but they are great, really." 

"Yeah, let's just hope they accept me then..." Alec said and twiddled the hem of his jacket. He wore his only clothes that were suitable for visiting the metropolis on a night in late March. He had black jeans, a marine blue button down with tiny purple sharks that looked just like colourful spots from afar. Over his shirt he had his black leather jacket. He had, for once, spent some time on his hair too, and now it went in soft waves back and to the left side of his forehead. He had also shaved his early stubble away. He looked at Magnus and felt his pulse quicken just from the sight of that beautiful man. Was he really this lucky, that he was able to call Magnus his boyfriend. He really had no worries when he had that man next to him, who was amazing inside and out. 

"You look amazing, by the way," Alec said and walked to face Magnus. Magnus wore black, soft looking leather trousers, a purple glittery tunic, which was open a few buttons from the top, and showed three different sized chains around his neck. Over that all, he had a knee-long black velvet coat, the collar of which looked like it was fashionable in the early 19th century maybe. Magnus had spiked his hair up a little and he had beautiful make-up with glittery gray and purple eyeshadow, black eyeliner and glossy lips. The result was very extraordinary, but somehow Magnus made it all look like it was the highest fashion from this spring season's fashion week. 

Alec slid his hands behind Magnus's back between his jacket and shirt, and leaned his forehead against Magnus's for a moment. Oh boy, he loved this man. 

"Thank you, darling. You look very good yourself too," Magnus whispered and threaded his hands around Alec's neck and through his hair from behind, where it didn't cause any damage to Alec's styling. 

They could have just stood there and breathed each other in for the rest of the day, if there weren't other plans for them today. Alec's nervousness melted away and he felt himself grounded when he felt Magnus’s breath moving in the same rhythm as his. Yeah, he would be fine. As long as Magnus was with him, he was going to be okay. "I love you," he murmured and kissed Magnus softly. 

"And I love you," Magnus murmured back. "We should go. Raphael doesn't like people who are late," he said and rolled his eyes at his friend who always took care to follow a strict timetable, and insisted that his close ones needed to follow that too. 

"Okay, we shouldn't let him wait too long,” Alec said and stepped aside in order to see what the portal meant in real life. Now it was time for him to use that mysterious travel platform for the very first time. He had seen Magnus use it a few times, and taking into account the noises he heard when he was talking with his mother and Magnus's dry clothes, Magnus had clearly portalled to his boat just moments ago too. The portal Magnus created now looked like a big fiery hole with tornado-like circles inside. It really was quite a big leap of faith for him to take Magnus's offered hand and follow him inside it. 

They stepped out into a quiet alley somewhere that looked like the backyard of a Chinese restaurant. Alec was breathless for a moment. He tried to force his beating heart to calm down while trying to adjust himself back in some order. So he straightened his posture and took a couple of calming breaths, then took a couple of steps in order to feel hard ground under his feet. He glanced around them and saw a street with shining lights and heard the buzz of a big city around them. They really had made it through the portal, a journey of thousands of kilometers in just a few seconds!

"Huh?... Well, that was... ....wow!" he said breathlessly. 

Magnus, who had watched Alec's reactions very carefully, chuckled relieved, when he saw that Alec had survived pretty well from his first portal travel, and hadn't even vomited a bit. He’d still kept his hand in Alec's and squeezed it now tenderly. "Welcome to New York, my love."

"Umm.. thanks, I guess.." Alec said, and tried once again to understand where he was. He looked confusedly at Magnus, who accepted this like it was just a normal day with every day comings and goings. Yep. This WAS normal to Magnus, Alec reminded himself. Then he remembered that he was soon going to meet two other warlocks, who also thought that it was normal to magic things or write fire messages and portal where and when ever they wanted. And then there was going to be Raphael. A vampire. Right. He didn't even want to think further what the ability to enchant people and blood drinking could mean. "Raphael and other vampires drink donated blood from blood banks, and they are also able to eat normal food, even if it doesn't bring them the pover they need for living," Magnus had explained to Alec. Yeah. It seemed that the only stranger here was Alec himself. He was just a mundane, who somehow had the possibility of seeing this Shadow World, because he happened to date one of the most powerful warlocks in the world. Right...

"Alexander. Are you all right?" Magnus's tender voice interrupted Alec in his thoughts. 

Magnus looked at Alec, who suddenly had become very pale. "If this is too much, we could just go back home, I'm sure they’d understand, if you don't feel ready, or..."

"No, no!" Alec interrupted. "I want to do this. It is just a lot to take in, you know. I'm ok, really. As long as I'm with you, I feel I can do this," Alec reassured Magnus quickly. Of course he was nervous, but this was about Magnus anyway, more than anything. Magnus had trusted him enough to show him a glimpse of his world, and he wasn't going to turn down that kind of generous offer. "I'm very honoured that you want to introduce your chosen family to me," he vocalized his thoughts. "It's not every day that you meet your boyfriend's family for the first time, after all, " he said explaining a little bit of his nervousness and grinned at Magnus. 

Magnus smiled widely at Alec. "Okay, then. In that case, let's go." He started to pull Alec by his hand towards the corner of the alley. 

Ragnor had booked a table at a small French cuisine restaurant near to the Brooklyn bridge. When Magnus and Alec arrived, Ragnor and Raphael were already waiting for them outside the restaurant. Magnus hugged his friends cheerfully, and then introduced them to Alec. 

"Alexander, this is Ragnor, my oldest friend," Magnus said. 

Ragnor bowed a little and shook Alec's hand firmly but gently. 

"Ragnor Fell, pleased to meet you." Ragnor said very formally. He was like a picture of an old-fashioned British gentleman. He wore a greyish-green, tweedy three-piece suit and a top hat; he had a pocket watch in his vest pocket and carried a wooden cane whose head was decorated with silver. 

"Alec Lightwood, very nice to meet you too," Alec said and tried to smile to Ragnor, who kept a formal expression on his face. 

"And this is my godson, Raphael," Magnus said and waved his hand towards Raphael. 

"Raphael Santiago," Raphael said and shook Alec's hand quickly. 

"Alec Lightwood," Alec replied and felt a secret shiver go down his spine from the coldness of Raphael's skin. "Very nice to meet you," he continued and swallowed as Raphael just nodded. He remembered suddenly that as a vampire, Raphael could hear his heart thumping in his chest and could smell that he felt a little bit frightened and unsure. Yeah, well done Lightwood, now collect yourself! He ordered himself in his mind. Luckily enough, he told himself, his thoughts were his own; Magnus would have warned him if some of his friends could read thoughts. 

Magnus rolled his eyes to his friends. "Oh, come on, couldn't you try to be just a little more frightening! I don't remember writing down in any contract that you are allowed to frighten my boyfriend before he has even had the possibility of getting to know that you could be lovely people if you want to be!" he exclaimed in annoyance. 

"What, who is frightening who?" came a firm but gentle voice behind them. They all turned to face the voice as a small, dark skinned woman hurried towards them. In the next moment she was in Magnus's arms. "I almost missed you, Magnus!" she said, and hurried to explain when Magnus raised his eyebrows in question: " I really would, Magnus, if I had time, but there is this warlock who had kidnapped women who were then forced to carry warlock babies..." When Magnus's face revealed a disgusted expression, she continued, "Yes, she had trapped them in an old house and summoned demons... ... and then there has been a rush in the hospital with this salmonella pandemic because of some asshole who put the bacteria in drinking water in some area downtown, and then my adoption process..." 

"Hold on, my dear Catarina, let's leave something to talk about inside this restaurant too," Magnus interrupted his friend. He was dying to hear all about Catarina’s news, but first things first. "May I introduce my boyfriend, Catarina," he said and waved his hand towards Alec. 

"Oh yes!" Catarina cried and hurried to move from Magnus's arms to Alec's, who was a little bit surprised by the sudden warm welcome Catarina gave him. Catarina hugged Alec hard and whispered next to his ear: Don't pay attention to their frightening appearance, they are like teddy bears really, when they stop acting like gangsters." Alec saw over Catarina's shoulder how Raphael, who had of course heard everything, rolled his eyes at Catarina's statement. Then she took Alec's hand and shook it tenderly. " I'm Catarina Loss, you can call me Cat as everybody else does. Very nice to meet you! " 

" Um.. very nice to meet you too, Cat. I'm Alec Lightwood. Magnus had told me so much about you," Alec replied and responded likewise to Cat's open smile. He saw a small hint of surprise and fire in her eyes when he said his name, but as soon as they appeared the expressions melted away and Catarina smiled widely. 

"All right, let’s go inside, I'm starving!" Ragnor announced loudly and grinned at them all, proving Catarina's words correct. 

Magnus, who of course had noticed Cat's reaction to Alec's name, stayed behind and took Cat's elbow in order to lead her to the table. "What's wrong, Cat. No, no. Don't try to lie to me; I saw your reaction to Alexander's name. So spill it," he insisted. 

Catarina looked into Magnus's eyes and whispered: " Nothing, really, I was just surprised about his last name, that's all. The name sounds familiar somehow, but I can't exactly tell why just yet. I need to do a little research first before I know more. But it's nothing to worry about, maybe it is just a coincidence." 

" Okay then. You’ll let us know what you find, won't you," Magnus whispered back. 

" Of course, " Catarina said smiling.

They settled at a corner table and as soon as the waiter had left to take their orders to the kitchen, Ragnor and Raphael started to ask questions of Alec. Alec didn't mind really, this was the purpose of this meeting anyway, to get to know each other. These people were Magnus's family and of course they wanted to know things about him. He remembered Catarina's encouraging words and felt how Magnus kept his hand in his, and forced himself to relax.

"So what do you do for a living?" Ragnor asked and sipped his red wine.

"I have a doctorate in both marine biology and environmental sciences from the university of Wellington in New Zealand. Right now I'm researching, along with our scientific team, how climate change has affected the marine ecosystem," Alec explained and felt almost like he was in his first employment interview. 

Raphael didn't show any emotions, but both Ragnor and Cat were openly impressed. 

"Interesting," Ragnor said. "And what have you found, so far, if you don't mind me asking," he continued. 

Alec glanced at Magnus unsurely. This was something he of course liked to talk about, but it was a subject that was maybe boring for other people. When Magnus, who was very proud of Alec's developments, nodded with a gentle smile, Alec cleared his throat, " Well, to put it briefly, there are a lot of changes in the ecosystems. In my particular research I have found that the biology of several plankton species has changed because of the water temperature changes, and that changes the food the small animal plankton eat, which changes the nutrients available to small fishes and so on up to the big predators of the ocean. And some might not get their regular food at all anymore if the environment changes too much in the coral reefs. So we are trying to research what things people could still do in order to stop that change," he explained shyly. 

"That is actually something I wanted to talk to you about," Magnus said. "Alexander has shown me the environmental crisis our world is heading towards, and I feel very ashamed that our people haven't done much about that at all." When his friends looked like he had grown two heads suddenly, he scrunched his eyes and watched all his friends’ eyes carefully, like he was warning them if they were going to say something sarcastic. " I want to do something about it. I don't know yet what it would be, but something," he said and watched Alec tenderly. "I think we will find a way together, right?" he asked Alec, who looked in his eyes with a warm glint in his own, nodded and squeezed Magnus's hand under the table. 

Cat cleared her throat in order to interrupt gently Magnus and Alec’s moment. "So tell us now, how exactly you two met? I can guess that Alec was doing his research with those plankton near to Magnus's island, but what happened then? It sounds like there is a story from over here." 

And so Magnus and Alec explained colourfully the circumstances in which they met and their adventures on the land and in the sea that they had shared together on Magnus's island.

After they had told the basics of their story, Alec wanted to ask questions too. He kept it as simple and safe as possible, because he didn't have much clue about what warlocks or vampires would do in a city like New York. Magnus had only told him before, that Catarina worked in a hospital, Raphael owned the nightclub that used to be Magnus's and Ragnor was some kind of author or philanthropist or something. So he went on with that. He discussed hospital life with Cat and they compared things between Alec’s father’s work and Catarina's work as she was an ICU doctor too. Catarina was a scientist by nature and was very interested in everything related to the environment. She spoke of her years with the Cherokees and how she had learnt to respect nature from them. 

When Alec asked Ragnor about what he did on a daily basis, he got a colourful answer, along with many comments from Magnus and Cat, about Downworld politics, writing a book about the British empire from a Downworlder's perspective, financial investments around the world - Ragnor seemed to have an obsession with old books, art and buildings, which he bought and sold making good money- and meetings with one particular seelie woman in the horticultural gardens of New York university. Yeah. What else would a many hundred years old warlock do to fill his day? It wasn't like he had to earn money for a living, as he seemed to have old money from many lifetimes. 

Raphael was little bit more difficult as he was so quiet and tense all the time. He had a quite visible crucifix on a short chain around his neck, and Alec wondered if the tension between being a vampire, being a catholic and a nightclub owner forced Raphael to use extra will power to keep himself in order. But even if Raphael didn’t make it easy for Alec to keep the conversation flowing, as he replied with one-word answers for everything, he still seemed to appreciate that Alec had bothered to ask about his work in the nightclub and about his vampire clan. And the others took care of the rest by telling stories that had happened in that said nightclub, or about the vampires and their weird hierarchy and politics. 

During the dessert, a big bowl of tiramisu to share together, Magnus also told his friends about the strong storm and how Alec had found out that Magnus was a warlock. 

"So does he has the sight then?" Raphael asked. 

"The sight? What is that?" Alec asked confused. He really didn't mind that Raphael spoke like Alec wasn't in the room, as Raphael seemed to be a person of few words and a natural introvert. He was really only very focused on once again finding out something new about the Shadow World. 

"I don't know, really," Magnus said quietly. "It hadn't come to my mind before..." Magnus glared at his friends who all rolled their eyes in unison, hinting that he had been occupied in.... other... things again too much, and forgot the basics of the Shadow World rules. 

"Magnus, what are you all talking about?" Alec demanded. Now he was a little bit worried. He had no idea what the others were talking about. And why Magnus suddenly acted like he was embarrassed about something? Had he somehow broken some unspoken rule here or something? 

"Darling, I'm sorry, it is nothing to worry about really," Magnus reassured Alec. " The sight means whether you can see some things in the Downworld or not. Since there has only been the two of us, the need to know this little detail didn't feel important. But now, as my friends have so kindly indicated.. " he glared at his friends again, ".. it is normally the first thing we check when meeting new people. It is just something of a habit for us, and also a kind of safety check. I trust you for other reasons, so that wasn't really necessary in our situation.?" 

"All right..." Alec said and watched the expressions that changed on his boyfriend's face from shy and tender to embarrassment and then a glare again towards his friends. "So... how do we find out whether I have that sight or not?" he asked. It seemed to be important to Magnus's friends anyway. He looked at each and every one around the table, a question in his eyes. Suddenly he gasped when Ragnor started to turn green, and two horns started to grow in his forehead. He remembered what Magnus had explained about his friends' warlock marks, but was surprised that Ragnor suddenly wanted to show what he really was in a public restaurant full of people! He glanced nervously around them but no one seemed to notice any difference in his table companions. Suddenly he felt Magnus's and his friends’ eyes on him. 

"Ooouuu yeah." Ragnor said slowly but satisfied about himself. "He definitely has the sight." 

When Alec was just like a big question mark, Magnus chuckled softly and caressed his cheek. "My love. You continue to surprise me. If you hadn't the sight, you wouldn't have noticed any difference in Ragnor's appearance, as he had glamoured himself that way," he explained. 

"Oh..." Alec said. He didn't know at all what to do with that kind of information. He looked Magnus in the eyes like he was searching answers there. But Magnus looked almost as surprised - in a happy way though- as he was. 

"Okay, let's not confuse our guest too much now boys," Catarina said eventually. "Tell us Alec, what is it like to sail around the ocean with your boat?" And just like that the tension broke and Alec felt everyone relax around him a little bit. It seemed that the sight-topic was something that needed to be talked about later, on another occasion. 

After they had finished their dinner and walked up the street towards a place where Ragnor would be able to help them portal to Raphael's night club, Catarina took Alec's elbow and pulled him a little bit aside from the others. 

"Thank you Alec, so much, for loving our Magnus," she said gently, tears almost in her eyes. "It has been way too long, since I last saw Magnus so happy and relaxed with someone. You are doing him so much good. " She glanced at the others walking about ten meters apart from them. "And as I said, those two are not so bad. I think they accept you too, " Cat whispered. Then she hugged Alec hard and said. "I have things I need to take care of, so I’ll say good bye for now. I hope we'll see each other again soon." 

"Thank you, Cat. It really was a pleasure to get to know you," Alec said and smiled at Catarina gratefully. He watched while Catarina rushed to say goodbye to her friends and then she crossed the street and disappeared around the corner. Magnus came to take Alec's hand and led him through Ragnor's portal, arriving right in front of the nightclub Pandemonium. 

As soon as they went inside through the VIP-doors that were next to the other doors with a long queue of people and guards in front of it, Raphael nodded his good bye and headed to his office. Ragnor also seemed to have already arranged an appointment by the bar with some lady with long purple hair. Magnus led Alec straight to the dancefloor, where they started to sway along with the music. Despite all the strange looking people - downworlders, Alec corrected in his mind- the only one he noticed was Magnus. Finally after a long exciting evening, they were in their own little love bubble again. They had energy left, since it was Saturday afternoon on Magnus's island at that moment, but here it was an hour before midnight. So they had time to dance as long as they wanted and they could still manage to go home for dinner.

Alec placed one hand on Magnus's hip while the other went naturally against Magnus's middle back and pushed Magnus almost against his own chest. Magnus hung his hands around Alec's neck and settled his head on his shoulder. Alec leaned his head against Magnus's hair. Magnus snapped his fingers so that they were able to hear each other well over the loud music around them. 

"I missed alone time with you already," Alec said and kissed Magnus's forehead. "I like your friends. But there were so many new topics to deal with that it felt almost overwhelming after being a long time on a peaceful tropical island." 

"Me too, my love. And I'm so proud of you. Ragnor and Raphael are hard for almost anyone I meet these days, but you managed to surprise them in a positive way just by being you. They rarely see anyone who doesn't play games with me or with them, and even if they didn't say it, they were impressed with your career," Magnus said happily. It felt like a win to him that he had for once managed to reassure his friends about his dating partner without too much drama. Alexander really was something else. 

When Alec was quiet for a while, he asked:" Are you thinking about that sight-thing?" 

"Hmm mmm." Alec nodded and hummed. "What does that means Magnus? How could I have the sight?" 

"I really don't know either, darling. The only reason I can figure out is that you might have some ancestor way back in history, that was a shadowworlder, but unfortunately I don't know how to prove it without blood tests and everything. I have a feeling that Catarina might have some idea for it. But for now, we just need to wait until she finds out something, I guess. Are you ok with that? " Magnus said and raised his head to look Alec in the eyes. 

"I guess I am, for now." Alec said. Then he felt that he wanted to change the subject. This was too heavy right now and he wanted to have fun. They were in New York in a popular nightclub after all! "What is your favourite drink in this place?" he asked and gave a soft peck on his lover's lips. 

Magnus grinned and led Alec to sit on the maroon leather couch in the VIP- area. "Let me make an order for us," he said and wrote a fire message to the bartender, who seemed to be used to taking those kinds of orders regularly. Soon a small silver tray appeared on the table. On the tray were two martini glasses with smoking blue drinks in them. Magnus snapped his fingers and summoned a small black bottle to his hand. He poured the contents of it in both of their glasses and then picked them up. 

"What was that Magnus?" Alec asked. He was by now used to about Magnus using magic, so he was just curious about the drinks. 

Magnus gave one glass to Alec and saluted Alec with the other. "Do you remember, when I mentioned the aphrodisiac potions, Alexander...?" he asked. 

"Oh, this sounds interesting. Tell me more," Alec said grinning and clicked his glass against Magnus's. Suddenly it seemed like the evening was going to turn out to be very interesting, and all the stress and worries melted away with the first sips of their drinks...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday, everyone!✨
> 
> So the 11th chapter is here for you. I hope you'll enjoy it. 
> 
> There is little bit drama in this one, but don't worry, everything is going to be good at the end.  
> 😊
> 
> Thank you again to my amazing beta @Malecfan09, her support and help means a lot to me.  
> Go and check her works too, they are wonderful! 💜💜

Chapter 11

Magnus was resting on the bed on Alexander's boat, scrolling lazily through his newly found obsession: Instagram. They had been in Myanmar three months now, and Alexander's part of the charity project was almost done. Two more education evenings and they could start sailing to New Zealand and Magnus would finally be able to meet face to face with Alexander's family.

It was almost six months since their first meeting together with Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael. After their... very interesting... night in the Pandemonium and their first trip together to the world of ancient warlock potions and aphrodisiacs, a lot had happened. They had spent a mostly peaceful two months on his island with everyday routines with his animals and in his garden. Alexander had written some articles about his research and together they had dived under the surface many times. Alexander had shown Magnus how to take samples of water plants, and what to look for with the plankton when looking through the lens of a microscope. 

While Alexander was writing, Magnus had entertained himself by reading all the books Alexander had in his cabin. It didn't really matter that most of the books were related to Alexander's research project or that they were published for the scientific community. Quite the opposite, actually. Magnus wanted to learn and study all possible information about marine biology, the environment of the oceans, the climate and even the microbiology, as it was the thing Alexander knew a lot about. He wanted to be a little more equal in their conversations about the topics Alexander was carrying out research on. And he wanted to learn also for another reason: he wanted to become an ambassador of climate change for shadow worlders. And as he knew how challenging and hard an audience his community would be, he wanted to be prepared with the facts. Because, apart from his charm of course, facts were the only weapon he had against the prejudices he was sure they would face. As time went by, he had read all the books he could get his hands on - they had even visited the university library in one of their monthly visits to New York. And with the support of Alexander he had soon studied more than was truly necessary. Magnus felt pure joy about studying new things. He had never realized that there was still so much he didn't know.

To be fair, of course he had studied some things during his long life. But those studies had mostly been of different languages, Downworld history and magic studies, which he needed when he worked with downworlders. He remembered clearly that fifty years time lapse in the 18th century, when the witch hunt was at its worst, and he was hiding along with his many warlock friends in spiral labyrinth shelters. Then they were reorganizing the whole library, and he had studied many books of ancient mythologies and other things that he hadn't even known existed. Even then, he remembered, he had enjoyed the studies. How come his life had changed so that he hadn't taken time for study, as he clearly found it so entertaining? 

After their long office hours, they bathed in the pool and cooked slow dinners together. During that time, they got to know each other pretty well. They always had something new to talk about. Their journey of knowing each other in a physical way was also very interesting and refreshing. Alexander had thrown himself so fully into worshipping and learning every part of Magnus's body, soul and mind, that Magnus had never in his long life experienced that kind of enthusiasm. Together they had opened Magnus's potion cabinet and tried every single one of the aphrodisiac potions he had there, and found all together new ways to make love and study each other. Magnus had even ordered a few more from one of his warlock friends who kept a small pharmacy in Paris. Those said potions needed to be used only with total trust between partners, since they opened the secret part of a person’s soul to the other. And the absolute trust that was needed was exactly how they felt towards each other. 

After two months, Alexander had said after one of their successful experimental cooking sessions, when they both were full of delicious food, that he should leave soon to Myanmar to continue his charity project. Magnus hadn't needed a long time to decide what to do. He wanted to go with Alexander, and see in practice, what the work of a climate change ambassador was about. Alexander had been more than happy about his decision.

So while Alexander prepared his boat in order to undertake the long sea trip and planned his tour around Myanmar, - he had, after long conversations, given up about the food part and accepted that Magnus could summon what they needed - Magnus organised someone who could take care of his garden and his animals. 

Of course he could have just portaled the animals to somewhere but there was still his garden, which needed to be taken care of anyway. And he didn't want to cause any stress to his animals either, and the portal travel definitely would cause that. So he made a deal with one of his trusted seelie friends, who worked for fun as a gardener in Taj Ma Hal garden. His partner was a warlock so they were able to portal to his island easily. 

The parrots Magnus knew he would miss the most. But even if Alexander had once suggested that they could take the parrots with them he knew that those dear birds had made his island their home. And even if he was going to miss those crazy birds, he wanted them to have the best life they could have. So Dorian and Alfonso were also left behind when they made their way to the coast of Myanmar on Alexander's boat. 

Magnus had thought at first, that he could just suggest that he portal them near, but as he knew that Alexander loved sailing, and that it would be again a new experience for himself, he had let the portaling idea go. And oh boy, the sailing was amazing! Magnus was enjoying it with every cell of himself. He loved the wind that took hold of the sails as well as the calm weather, when only a small part of the sails were up. 

He loved the physical challenge that sailing brought to them both as he learnt to use ropes and sails almost as well as Alexander. And he was never going to forget how the dolphins followed their boat for almost one week, showing all their mastered jumps and turns for them just for fun. He also remembered well the day when Alexander called him to come out of the cabin, where he was reading, when a huge hump-back whale swam next to the boat with her calf that was maybe from a whale's perspective small, but in theirs was huge, almost as long as the boat. Alexander had already put a microphone ready in the water, and together they had watched and listened in awe how the mother whale guided her baby through the ocean. Magnus decided then and there, that the singing of whales was his most favourite music of all time. 

When they had arrived in Myanmar, Alexander's friends Jace and Clary were already waiting for them. Jace was a sociologist and anthropologist, and Clary was a social psychologist, and together Alexander, Jace and Clary made a very effective team. Jace's nature was a weird combination of sarcasm, bad ass attitude and empathy, and it took quite a long time until Magnus felt relaxed around him as he could never tell if Jace was joking or not when he suddenly burst out laughing in the middle of a conversation when Magnus thought it was about a serious topic. But as time went by, he learnt to read Jace better, and started to joke around himself too. Clary, on the other hand, was the person Magnus felt an immediate connection with. She had an easy and straight-forward personality and accepted Magnus in their small group easily and without question. Clary was very good with people and knew the local language well, and while Alec and Jace were planning the technical matters and the theory of their education evenings, Clary walked around the countryside villages or the market places of the towns and talked with people and invited them to come and listen to what they had to say. 

Magnus shared his time with Alexander and Clary, and helped in all things that were possible. Magnus and Alexander acted like friends when other people were around, since they didn't want their good cause to get spoiled because of people's prejudices of their sexuality. 

One thing that Alec had insisted Magnus should purchase, before they left for Myanmar, was a proper mobile phone. It was for practical reasons that Alexander had managed to convince Magnus finally. He had reasoned that even if Magnus could use fire messages, he couldn't and he wanted to able to call Magnus if needed. Also it wasn't such a bad thing to know how things were in the human world these days, as every single one of the people they would meet, would have a mobile phone of their own. Magnus's friends had had a lot of fun because of him one Friday night when they arrived at their meeting straight from the shop that sold phones, and Magnus had clutched a brand new purple-shelled phone in his hand. They joked about how Alexander really had to be special if he had managed to make Magnus buy something they had tried to make him buy for the last two decades. Magnus had just rolled his eyes at his friends. Of course Alexander was special, in many ways. He had told his friends that Alexander was so far the only person who had managed to argue in a coherent way the need for a him to have a mobile phone. And that he would need his mobile phone as a work tool, as Alexander did. 

During their sail, Alexander had explained the world of internet and social media to Magnus, and they had created for him his own Instagram account. Magnus had adjusted himself very quickly to the modern world, and found that twitter, YouTube and Instagram would be good tools for him to use when he tried to raise knowledge of climate change with shadow worlders. He also quite soon found out that it was also fun to follow different kinds of hastags and all. 

At the present moment, Magnus had just posted new pictures of dolphins and the Indian Ocean on his instagram. He clicked open Clary's new post about their education night yesterday. It had been very successful. They had had the workshops during the day, where the students, normal people who were important influencers in their own communities, had asked people in their area what they knew about climate change and marine nature. In the evening, and on the following two days they were collecting all the experiences together. Alec had shown, with the help of Clary or Jace translating, videos about life under the surface in the places where everything was still good. In the video people saw the common fish species swimming in crystal clear water in beautiful coral reefs. Then he had shown a short video clip about an ecosystem that was already almost collapsing. He showed from the map that hung on the wall, where the worst places of polluted water were. Then Clary and Jace explained what people could do in a practical way by themself in order to stop the damage and to rebuild the ecosystems again. 

Alexander was now maintaining their rented jeep, which they kept in a garage near to the harbor where they still lived in the boat. Alexander had kindly asked whether they should rent an apartment, but Magnus knew that if Alec were alone, he would have lived on his boat so he chose to live that way too for a while. He was acting in front of others, that he was a mundane, so mundane things were important there too. In the middle of his scrolling, Alexander's number emerged on his phone as a sign of a call. 

"Hi darling!" Magnus greeted cheerfully. He heared a cracking sound and rustling and then Alexander swearing in the background. It sounded like Alexander might have dropped his phone or something. 

Finally Magnus heard his boyfriends voice on the phone. "Magnus... " Alexander sounded breathless. Had he run from somewhere? "... Magnus... the snake..." 

Magnus was immediately on his feet. "Alexander, where are you? Did you get bitten?" he asked in an alarmed voice and waved his other hand to create a portal. 

"Here... in the garage... I think it was a cobra... Magnus, I...." 

"Don't talk more, my love. Save your energy. Hang on, I'll be right there." Magnus forced himself to say calmly on the phone. He wrote a quick fire message: "Emergency, a snake bite, Alexander. Where are you?" and sent it to Catarina. Then he ran through the portal to the inside of the garage where their car was. 

"Alexander!" Magnus shouted. 

"Over here," Magnus heard a weak voice behind the car. Magnus rushed towards the voice and found Alec lying on the ground leaning his seemingly injured hand up against the car's door. Alec was already weak from the shock of the pain and because of the venom from the snake coursing through his blood system. 

"I was trying to.... look... the wire... b.. broken... . Look out!.... It... s.. still there..." Alec breathed. He felt relief rush in his foggy brain when he saw his boyfriend. Now he knew that he didn't need to worry anymore. Magnus could handle the situation just fine he thought hazily. 

Magnus hurried, keeping Alec in his arms as he lowered him to the floor. Then he quickly let his magic surround the garage and when it recognized the snake, he snapped his fingers and trapped the snake in a fabric bag and sent it to a laboratory in New York, along with a fire message where he asked what kind of snake was in the bag. He had a friend of his there, Manuel, who had a weird obsession with poisonous animals. 

"Hush, my love. Don't talk. You will get over this, I promise." He didn't know if he was reassuring more Alexander or himself. "Just hang on. We'll just wait for Cat's answer in order to know where she is, and then we can go.” He spoke as calmly as he could. He cursed himself for not having kept his healing magic in order. The only thing he could do now was soothe Alec's body with his Magic in order to relax Alec so that the venom didn't rush through his body because of a high heart rate. He was immune to the snake venom himself, so he had never before felt the need to practice the treatment for snake bites. He had no idea how long Alec had lain there before he managed to get his phone from the car where he normally kept it in a holder. Alec had been in the garage about two hours, hopefully the snake had bitten him just before their phone call. Luckily the engine was off, so they didn't have to deal with carbon monoxide poisoning at the same time. He wasn't going to ask those things from Alec, as he should save all his energy to survive. 

Finally the fire message appeared in the air. Great, Magnus thought as he read the message, Catarina is in her home. He rose to his feet, lifted Alec's uninjured arm over his shoulders and supported Alec to stand and lean against him. "Okay, let's go then," Magnus said and led Alec through the portal and straight to Catarina's living room. Ragnor and Raphael were already there, and together they carried Alec to a guest room, where Cat was already waiting. Luckily Madzie, Catarina's new adoptive daughter wasn't around. Maybe she was in warlock school or something, Magnus thought distracted. 

When they settled Alec on the hospital bed that Cat had summoned, Cat started immediately to soothe her magic over Alec, put the catheter in Alec's hand and while doing that, started to give out orders. 

"Raphael, I need blood. Plasma and red cells..... hmmm.... yes, AB+, go!" She said to Raphael, who disappeared from the door like a blur before Catarina had even finished her sentence. 

Catarina snapped her fingers and pushed a piece of paper in Ragnor's hand. "Three on the top are from my potion room, the last one you need to go to the mundane pharmacy, they will mix it there." 

"Yes ma’am," Ragnor said in his grumpy way and portalled away. 

"Anything yet from Manuel?" Catarina asked then. She had of course guessed that Magnus would ask for help from their weird friend. 

"No, not yet, he might have other businesses or something... Alec said something about a cobra.. " Magnus said and clutched Alec’s cold and sweaty hand in his. 

"All right,... Alec!" Cat came next to Alec's face and got a glassy look in answer. Alec was shaking now, his lips were almost blue and his injured hand had started to turn blotchy and purple. Catarina’s magic travelled over Alec all the time, securing the vital organs and his brains, but there was no way she could totally stop the venom working inside Alec if she didn't know exactly what she was fighting against. It was basically the same as it was with demon related injuries, the healer needed to know what poison had been used. The wrong medicine could cause even worse injuries. She knew that she could heal even bad injuries the snake might have caused, but she just needed to know the specific snake first. Since the bite it didn't seem to have been more than only one hour or so. 

"Yes.... Cat.. arina." Alec answered weakly. 

"Alec, I need to know. The snake, what was it?" Catarina demanded in a soft voice. 

"Naja naja..." Alec said. 

" What is he talking about?" Magnus asked. It sounded as if Alec had lost his mind and talked now in some nonsensical language. 

"Hush," Cat said. "Alec, are you sure about that?" 

"Yes,.... Naja... Naja.... The cobra." Ale breathed. 

Alec was a biologist, so Catarina had no reason not to believe Alec. She turned to face Magnus, who looked like a lost puppy with teary eyes. "Magnus, dear. I need you to focus now. Portal to Manuel's lab and bring an antidote of the Cobra called in Latin Naja Naja." 

Magnus collected all his will power, wiped his eyes and rose from his seat next to Alec's bed. "You are going to make this. I love you so much. I'll be right back," he whispered to Alec's ear and almost burst out crying all over again when Alec opened his eyes and said "I love you" in a raspy voice. He turned on his heels and rushed to the hall in front of mirror and magicked himself presentable again in order to hide his cry-puffy eyes. Then he made a portal to Manuel's lab. 

"Well hello, Magnus, what a pleasure to meet you live after such a long time!" Manuel greeted Magnus cheerfully. "I just came home and to my lab and found a snake in a fabric bag on my table over there. I didn't know you were enthusiastic about catching snakes, but I thank you for the present anyway," he continued and took the snake from the bag with his bare hands and put it into an empty terrarium. 

" This beauty is one of the four of the "Big four"- a group of snakes in Asia, that are the most poisonous in the area. Naja Naja, the real Cobra with eyeglasses..."

Magnus was breathless. He found finally his voice when he heard the name of the snake. 

" Manuel, it would be so nice to chat with you all day long about these snakes and spiders you have here," he waved his hand around the room, which was full of glass terrariums with all kinds of poisonous monsters inside of them. "... but I'm kind of in a life and death situation over here. It is about my partner. He got bitten by that very same cobra, and he is not immune and..." 

"Oh why didn't you say so immediately!" Manuel said in totally different, serious voice. "You need an antidote, don't you?" he asked and without waiting for the answer he rushed to rummage in one of his many lockers. He took two injection ampoules and brought them to Magnus. "Do you know how to use them?" he asked, care in his voice. He took hold of Magnus's shoulder and smiled compassionately.

"Catarina is there," Magnus said. 

"Good, good, then." Manuel said relieved. He maybe would have gone himself if needed but he wasn't a fan of social situations so he relaxed a little bit when he realized that he didn't had to go. "I wish all the best for you and your lover then, you should go now, and please come and visit me sometimes." He said and waved his goodbye as Magnus hurried to the portal. 

"Thank you, Manuel, I’ll make this up to you somehow!" Magnus shouted before he disappeared through the portal. 

When Magnus came back, Raphael had already brought the blood packs and was now sitting in the living room in order to avoid his vampire instincts about the blood bags. Ragnor came from Catarina's potion room with a glass of weird coloured potion in his hands. Together they went to the guest room. Cat snatched the ampoules from Magnus and injected the first dose straight away with her healing magic. Then she put the potion glass to Alec's lips and helped him to drink the potion. 

Alec looked pale, but a little bit calmer, as he had had several bags of new blood in his veins. Magnus ran to sit again next to Alec, who had now enough strength to take hold of his hand. 

After the antidote and Catarina's potion, Alec's condition improved quite quickly, as Catarina was now able to remove the venom as she had help from the medicine and knew what she was fighting against. 

After Catarina had done all she could, Alec was feeling a lot better but very tired. Cat had given him painkillers and sleeping medicine and together with the physical exhaustion Alec felt like he could sleep for a year. 

"He should rest now, about twelve hours or so, and then he needs a good meal with lot of protein and nutrients," Cat said. "Ragnor, please, go and help Magnus." Cat ordered. 

With the help of Ragnor, Magnus portalled Alec to the boat and to bed. Alec fell asleep almost immediately. Magnus send a quick text to Clary and Jace that the event of the day needed to be managed without Alec, as he had fallen and injured his hand and had needed to see a doctor. It wasn't a good lie, but it was good enough and gave Alec the possibility to rest without disturbance and would explain his covered hand. 

Then Magnus snapped his fingers and summoned two glasses of whiskey to the table. He offered Ragnor a chair and fell himself into the other. They were silent for a while, as Ragnor seemed to wait until Magnus was ready to talk. 

" I never thought that I would have such a rollercoaster of different emotions in only few hours," Magnus said eventually and felt tears glisten in his eyes again when he glanced at his beloved boyfriend who was sleeping and breathing easily in his bed. "For a second, I thought that..." his voice broke. He couldn't even say it aloud. 

"He really is important to you, isn't he?" Ragnor asked quietly. 

"He is." Magnus admitted. "I've never felt like this with anyone else." 

"hmmm.. " Ragnor hummed and nodded. "You should maybe learn about and practice a little more with the pharmacology of exotic diseases and antidotes for poisonous animals then," he said and grinned lightly when Magnus rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, I've learnt my lesson, I think." Magnus said and huffed to himself. " I wouldn't ever forgive myself if.." 

"But he is okay, Magnus. Nothing happened. You saved his life by acting fast enough. Stop punishing yourself for nothing." Ragnor interrupted. 

Magnus took a big gulp from his glass and looked his friend in the eyes. "Thank you for being there for me, Ragnor," he said honestly. 

"Any time Magnus," Ragnor said. 

They were deep in their own thoughts for a while again, and watched through the window the fishermen coming back to the harbour for the night as the sun was going to set soon. This was one of the reasons Magnus loved Ragnor so much. He never had the need to fill silence with nonsense. 

"So. Have you heard anything from Cat yet about Alec's Sight and all?" Ragnor asked and filled their glasses with a small wave of his forefinger.

"No we haven't. I only know that she suspects something, but she has been so busy lately with Madzie and everything else that is going on... and we have been very busy lately too..." Magnus said. 

"Well, we might know something soon. Catarina took a blood sample from Alec today. Maybe there is enough to test... for what ever she is looking for." Ragnor replied and played with his glass at the table. 

"Hmm mmm," Magnus nodded. Then he grinned at a fun memory. "Did I tell you that I thought Alexander was a merman at first?" 

"No you didn't! How in Edom did that come to your mind?" Ragnor asked excitedly and satisfied that he had managed to save Magnus from crying by changing the subject. It was hard to see his best and oldest friend cry like that. 

"You should see him swimming," Magnus said grinning and shook his head. The memory of naked Alexander by the waterfall had found a place in his brains forever. 

The evening darkened outside as Magnus told Ragnor his first thoughts about Alec. Then they shared many other crazy and embarrassing memories from their long life together. They both laughed so much that they were almost crying again by the end. 

When Magnus finally crawled next to Alec under the blankets, he was happy and relieved at the same time. 

It was good to have a friend around when life brought ups and downs along.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a gift for my always so supportive, amazing beta @Malecfan09, who gave me the inspiration about where this story could lead. Thank you for being a friend I need by my side! ❤️❤️
> 
> As always, my crazy imagination took the hint and led me to the direction I didn't except. And here you can see the result of that. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter 12!✨😊

Chapter 12.

After the snakebite, Alec and Magnus spent about another two months in Myanmar. Then Alec's part of the charity project was done, and it was time to say farewell again and move on. Alec left the material he had used for Jace, as he needed it in order to continue the charity project with his wife Clary. 

They had been together nearly eight months now and those months had been the happiest in Alec's life. They hadn't talked about the future yet, but mostly enjoyed their life day by day. After the snake affair, Magnus had been very sensitive for a few weeks and made sure all the time that Alec was ok. Magnus had started to read pharmacy books about all the possible exotic diseases and cures against poisonous animals in South East Asia. He had been terrified when Alec had once only sneezed because some dust had gone up his nose when they cleaned up one of the classrooms where an education evening was going to be held. 

Finally on a weekend when they had few days off, Alec had taken Magnus to his boat, raised the anchor and sailed to the open sea. Then he had carried Magnus to their bed and kept him in his arms a long time. There, in the silence and darkness of their sleeping cabin, Magnus had finally cried out all his stress and fear of loosing Alec. Slowly between hiccups and tears, Alec had found out that Magnus’s biggest fear in all his years was being left all alone, without a way to escape from the world as he was an immortal. 

Alec had reassured Magnus over and over again, with words and tender actions that he wasn't going to leave Magnus, and that he was very ok, had vaccinated himself and was capable of taking care of himself. He had told Magnus that the snake incident was an accident, and promised to check every corner of places before doing anything else from now on. Deep in his heart Alec felt the pain at the thought that one day he will be leaving this world too, when natural aging will take him over the border. But he put that thought firmly back to where it was. Now wasn't the time to think that. Alec kept Magnus in his arms the whole night, and finally exhaustion and the warm and safe embrace of Alec's arms lulled Magnus to a peaceful sleep. When they woke up, they had made love for hours, taking those words to a new level where it never had been before. 

After that weekend Magnus had been his normal cheerful self again. It was like a heavy load was lifted from his shoulder and that he could trust again that life had many good things to offer him. 

When they had packed and were ready to leave for New Zealand, they had discussed a lot about whether Magnus should just portal them near to the coast of Alec's home country. Even if Alec missed his family, and the possibility to get home sooner was very tempting, he had still suggested doing things slowly. Magnus had agreed easily after he had realised that a few months of sailing together was exactly what they needed between the hectic life in Myanmar and the hustle bustle that would come when meeting Alec's family. 

They sailed with Alec's boat, following the coast of the countries of East South Asia. They had stopped by a small coastal town in Papua-New-Guinea and had walked the whole day in the harbour and the colourful market area. Now they carried bags of fruits and other food supplies in their hands towards the boat, and were planning what kind of delicious dinner they were going to cook. 

Just when Alec had taken the last bags to the boat from Magnus who gave them to him from wharf, a fire message flew through the air. 

Alec had now learnt, through one of their monthly visits to New York, where they ate dinner with Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael, that it wasn't self-evident that he could see the fire messages. Ragnor had joked that if only Magnus hadn't been so occupied by "Alexanders beauty and gloriousness all the time" he would have realized that Alec had the Sight earlier. Because Alec had seen the fire messages from earlier on, and those messages were always glamoured to be invisible from regular mundanes. 

They hadn't talked a lot more about Alec's Sight, because there really wasn't anything to talk about. The only thing they knew was that Alec might have an ancestor from many hundreds of years ago, who had maybe been part of the shadow world. Everything else was just conjecture. Even Catarina had been very quiet about the topic. They all sensed that she knew something, but she always insisted firmly that she didn't want to speculate until she was sure, and they respected that, because they knew that she was right. The last time they had visited New York, Catarina hadn't even been there. She had simply told them that she was taking Madzie to meet her old Cherokee friends in the Appalachian mountains.

Magnus caught the message in his hand. "It's from Cat." he said. "She’ll come over within the hour... and that's all this says." Magnus looked confused. Then his face lightened when he realized: " She must finally have some news for us!" He looked at Alec, who swallowed a sudden lump in his throat as his face went pale. No matter how impatient they had all been for news of his Sight, he wasn't prepared to hear the news so suddenly when it finally was possible. "Alexander, are you all right?" Magnus asked worriedly and stepped onto the boat carrying the last bag of food in his hand. He settled the bag down to the deck's floor and went to hug Alec.

"Yeah.. sure.." Alec said breathlessly. It maybe wasn't really going to be anything else but only getting to know about his ancestors from a couple of hundred years ago, so he shouldn't be getting so nervous about it, Alec thought. He couldn't understand why hearing the news still made him so nervous. Maybe because they had waited so long, and also because Catarina's behaviour and efforts around the topic indicated that it was a big deal after all. Alec didn't know why all Magnus's friends acted like it was such a big thing to find out about some man or woman in history. In the mundane world, Alec knew many who were engaged in genealogy, and it was simply about the interest in a person's family history and a way to understand the last generation's life better. It was never a big deal to the person her- or himself or made any difference to their identity. Maybe it was just the culture difference between mundane- and Shadowworld. And along with the other’s excitement about the topic, Alec had started to be nervous about the news too. He breathed Magnus in and as always, the mixed smell of Magnus, where the sun, the sea wind, the sandalwood cologne, and the musky masculinity combined together, grounded him in a way nothing else could. With Magnus, he felt he could face anything. 

Magnus caressed Alec's back as Alec leaned his whole being against him. "I'll be there for you all the way," Magnus whispered. "What ever the news is, we’ll find a way to get through it together, Alexander."

"Hmm, mm." Alec nodded against Magnus's neck. "Thank you, Magnus. I love you." 

"Oh Alexander, I love you too, so much." Magnus murmured. 

Alec straightened himself and looked into Magnus's eyes. "We could at least cook something for her, after all her research for me, yes?" he said then and smiled a little. 

Magnus chuckled and grinned to Alec. "Yes my darling, we could do that. What do you suggest?" 

Alec glanced at all their bags of food that still waited on the floor of the deck. "How about....something with lentils? They cook ready quickly enough, and the fish with sweet potatoes and a pineapple-cucumber salsa with that?" 

"Oh my, Alexander! I'm still wondering why you didn't become a chef. Your plan sounds mouthwatering already!" Magnus purred. He took the food bags in his hands and followed, widely grinning, a blushing Alec to the cabin's small kitchen area. Magnus had always loved good food and knew the basics of cooking after he had moved to his island and got fancy about doing things the mundane way. But after he had met Alec, the whole idea of cooking had gone to the next level. He admired the way Alec seemed to get ideas for the meal just by looking at the ingredients they happened to have. He had never seen Alec use cooking books or even the internet to find a recipe or suggestions but he just seemed to naturally sense about which ingredients fitted together. And never once had the food Alec had made, been a disappointment but so delicious and great in all possible ways, even if the meal was cooked in Alec's tiny kitchen on his boat. 

When Magnus was putting the plates and napkins on the table, and Alec was taking the pan from the oven, they heard the humm of a portal forming on the deck of the boat. Magnus hurried to greet Catarina, Alec following shortly after him. 

"Hello, boys!" Catarina greeted, hugging both men. She glanced around her and just saw a sailing boat surrounded by other different kinds of boats, a wharf and crystal clear water in the harbour. "I didn't believe Ragnor when he told me that you actually live on this small boat. But it really is true! What has happened to my Magnus who loves the luxurious life, big apartments, decorative furniture, room after room of high fashion clothes, glitter and jewelry " She exclaimed and looked at her old friend who had stonewashed light blue jeans-shorts and a quite simple milk-coffee-brown v-neck linen tunic, whose sleeves were lightly rolled up. Only one simple chain hung around his neck, and there were no rings or any other jewelry to be seen. His hair was ruffled by the sea wind and went back and to the other side of his head with soft silky waves. The only make-up he had on, was a dark brown thin line of eyeliner. He still looked good, of course, as his physical presence owned that old-fashioned beauty that didn't fade away no matter what he wore, but everything else about him had changed. 

Magnus just shrugged his shoulders and smiled happily. "Well, maybe I have just found something so much better than all that," he said and caressed Alec's arm when he walked by them to check on their dinner. 

Catarina watched her friend carefully. She had of course noticed that Magnus had changed, during their meetings in New York. But now when she saw him in his daily element, walking around in the small area that was Alec's and Magnus’s living room, dining area and office, setting simple glasses, forks and knives beside the plates at the table, she realised that maybe for the first time ever, Magnus looked content to be just where he was without thoughts of needing to be somewhere else at the same time. He looked relaxed, calm and happy. Catarina couldn't help herself from going and hugging Magnus again. "I'm so happy for you," she whispered, and in that moment she knew that the news she was going to tell soon was maybe very good for his friend too, after all. No matter what Alec wanted to do with the information she had. She sat in the offered chair and started to eat the delicious dinner Alec and Magnus had prepared for them. 

When Alec brought a bowl of self-made pina colada icecream for each of them and sat beside Magnus, Catarina finally decided that it was time to tell the news. She had waited until this moment, because she had learnt a long time ago, that everything was easier to take, when your stomach was full of good food. "All right," she started and put a spoon of icecream in her mouth. "My goodness, Alec, this is amazing!" she moaned when the creamy flavours of coconut, rum and pineapple exploded on her tongue. She cleared her throat and started again what she was supposed to say, as Alec nodded and smiled his thanks at her compliment. She saw how Magnus took Alec's hand and put their entwined hands on his lap. 

"As I told you, I visited my old friends in the Cherokee reservation in the Appalachians," Catarina finally began. Alec and Magnus nodded in unison, so she continued: "While meeting the oldest men and women of one of the villages there, I finally realized I have found the last piece of the puzzle that had been bothering me ever since I heard Alec's last name, Lightwood. There was still that one lady that was there when I first met with the original Americans almost seven hundred years ago. The woman had always been there, during all those years, but had always stayed in the background. Back then I didn't spend much time with her as I was so occupied with practicing healing with the old women of the community I lived in, but I still remember that she sat once in a while around the fire at nights. I just supposed that she was a warlock or seelie who had settled there to live with the Cherokee community. The one thing I remember was that she always looked sad and like she was half in the present moment and half in some painful memory. 

The stories about ancestors and old family members follow through in that community's life so that no matter how many generations have existed between my original friends and the new generation, it always feels like I'm treated like a family member, as everybody knows me as a friend of one of their ancestors. And Madzie was also welcomed there with warm and overwhelming hospitality. I was introducing Madzie to the elders, when they called that old woman too to greet me. And there was the surprise. One of her complicated long lines of names was Lightwood. I knew then, that I had heard her name before, and that's why Alec's name sounded familiar. " Catarina took a pause and swallowed the last spoon of her icecream. She raised her finger when Magnus was about to talk. "My story has just begun. I'm sorry to take this slowly, but I want you both to understand all the details and the possibilities stemming from what I'm going to tell you now, because there were many things that were new even for me," she said and smiled a little. 

Magnus had moved his chair very close to Alec's and Alec kept both of Magnus's hands in both of his against his heart. Both men were looking at Catarina, waiting excitedly and nervously, for what was about to come next. So she continued again: "The woman, Milana is her name, was shocked when I told her, that I have met someone who's name is Lightwood too. On that night, I finally heard her story while we were sitting around the fire when the kids were already sleeping."

"Milana is a mermaid," Catarina said and heard both Magnus and Alec gasp. "She is the third and last child of her parents. Back then there were many merpeople in the seas of the world. The kingdom was full of kids and their future looked good. Merpeople had always taken a human form easily, and some of them had lived with people on land from the beginning of human history. 

Then the worse thing ever happened. In the 13th century when the plague killed almost half of the human population, merpeople decided to escape from the human world for a while. But unfortunately as eveyone expected, merpeople were not immune from the plague. It was too late when the wisest ones of them realized the seriousness of the disease, and even if they could do some kinds of healing magic, they weren't prepared for the infection that came from the mundane world. The plague caused the collapse of the whole merpeople community. Only one in five of them survived. 

Milana's chosen partner for life, Gregor, along with her younger sister, and her parents died because of that terrible disease. Her older brother Maxwell, had kept his human form and escaped to a small island nearby Cuba before anyone even knew about the plague. On the island, there lived a small population of people, who were so isolated, that the plague didn't find its way there. 

Maxwell fell in love with a human girl, Miriam, who lived on that island. Very soon it was clear that she was the love of his life. The couple got married and had a beautiful boy, Michael. When Milana was sure that the disease was over she moved to the lagoon of the island where her brother lived, in order to be near her only living relative. What Milana didn't know, though, was that Maxwell had used an ancient, secret spell, and changed himself permanently to human form, in order to grow old and die alongside his wife, because he couldn't stand the thought of loosing Miriam and living after her. 

After Maxwell's death, Milana left, grieving her fate at being left alone in the world. After a while she met the Cherokees, who were collecting seagrass on the beach, and ever since she has lived with them. She lost contact with her nephew Michael and his family line of Lightwoods and decided to live a human life as an immortal with the original American community in the Appalachians." 

Catarina took a deep breath and continued. There was still more to tell: "After Milana had told her story, and all the other people had left from around the fire place, I asked if she would help me to find out if I have really met a mundane called Lightwood, and how the name had popped up, after all these centuries. So we took a blood sample from her too and compared the DNA to Alec's, and the result was as clear as day. Your ancestors are not from the Shadow world, Alec, but from merpeople."

Magnus and Alec just sat there, mouths gaping like fishes on dry land. They listened to the centuries-old story Catarina was telling, and neither of them could believe immediately, what they had just heard. 

For Magnus, it was one thing to know, or even suspect, that merpeople exist, but another thing altogether to hear that the man beside him could be a real descendant of merpeople. He knew how Alec moved in the water, but still. Did it make more sense now all of sudden, or didn't it make sense at all from now on? He didn't know. 

For Alec, this was something he hadn't expected at all. Well, to be honest, he wasn't actually sure what he had expected. And he wasn't even sure if this new information affected his life somehow or not. Now he knew that his ancestor from many hundreds of years ago, had been a merman called Maxwell. Okay. That's it. Right? Now they maybe could move on with this and continue their life like it used to be. At least now he knew why all his relatives from his dad's side were so passionate about marine-related things. Even if Robert Lightwood was a doctor, he surfed and dove whenever he had time, and was almost over-excited about all the things Alec or Izzy did in their career. Robert's sister owned the big marine aquarium center in Sydney, and his grandfather was a marine biologist too, and had spent his career researching seas and oceans with the famous France marine scientist Jacque Cousteau. 

"Huh?" Alec blurted out and looked into Magnus's eyes and then into Cat's and then back into Magnus's. While Magnus looked almost as surprised as he was, in Catarina's eyes he saw calmness and small smile. 

"So... that's it?" Alec asked. "What now?" 

"Well, there is still more to this," Catarina said carefully. She caught a fire-message from the air and raised her eyebrows. "I'm sorry to rush with this but I need to go soon, as Madzie will come home from school sooner than I expected. The woman in the daycare she normally stays at after school has got the flu.... ..But before I go, I want you to know all I found out, if it is ok." she said, a question in her voice. 

As Magnus seemed to have lost his ability to speak, or was just deep in his thoughts for a moment, Alec nodded and said: "Sure. Please, go on." 

Catarina nodded emphatically to Alec and started to speak again. 

"After Milana and I had done the blood test, I showed her Alec's picture - ' just like Maxwell' - she said- and she felt the need to tell me the secret of the merpeople. 

Just as it is possible to change themselves permanently to the human form and loose their immortality, it is also possible for the spell to be done the other way around too. If there is just some pure merpeople’s blood left in someone’s veins, it is possible to change them permanently to merman or merwoman. Along with that, comes immortality, the ability to switch between the two forms, use some magic and breathe underwater. As merpeople are the only known creatures in the world who have the keys of immortality in their hands - in a limited way, but still - they are hunted by humans and shadow worlders who have somehow found out their secret. Some seelies and warlocks think that they can use the merpeople's magic together with their own in order to find the solution for this immortality – the mortality dilemma that is with us constantly when people from different races fall in love. And that is why merpeople are so rare these days. Either they hide in the deepest places of the oceans, or in their human form in order to protect themselves. Milana only told me this, because she knew me well enough, and because we were sure that you, Alec, are her actual living relative. And because she wanted to give you the possibility to choose," Catarina explained quietly and sensitively. They were walking on very thin ice right now, and she wanted to say things as simply and carefully as possible. Somehow she still trusted that Magnus and Alec knew what to do with the information she had just shared. 

Alec felt suddenly like his tongue had gotten very thick and heavy. He felt Magnus letting all the air out of his lungs and then stiffen beside him. He looked down to his own hands and then searched for the answers to his yet unspoken questions by looking through the window to the blue sky where seagulls flew over the sea in their never-ending circles. He could... what..?... switch to a merman? Breathe underwater? Do magic? Share his life forever with Magnus? How about his family? Whoah! This was quite a lot to take in. And what should he do? 

Magnus didn't let himself think what it really would mean for him, what Milana had promised. He felt a little tingle of hope stir inside himself, but didn't let it go further. This was Alec's decision, and only his. He would accept the decision Alec made no matter what it was going to be. He wouldn't dare to give his opinion on this out loud before Alec knew what to do. 

When Catarina rose from her seat, both Magnus and Alec woke up from their thoughts and stood up so fast that both their chairs fell down. They started to clank the chairs back in order under the table confusedly. Then Alec felt he needed some emotional and physical support in that moment and lightly brushed Magnus's hand with his. Magnus raised his eyes to look in Alec's and took the offered hand in his. "Whatever the news is, we will find a way to get through it, together, remember?" Magnus whispered repeating his words from before. 

Alec squeezed Magnus's hand hard and took a few careful deep breaths. 

"Yeah?" he said and managed to create a small honest smile on his face. 

Catarina carefully watched their actions from a distance by the door. 

"Of anyone, you two are the people I hope the most will find a good solution for this," she said tenderly. "I know it is a lot to take in, so take as much time as you both need. Then let me know when you are ready, so I will take you two to meet Milana, she wishes to meet you," she continued and waved her hand to make a portal. 

"Ok, thank you Catarina!" Magnus said and went to hug his friend. 

"Yeah, thank you, Cat, for all of your effort," Alec said warmly. "I don't know how to pay back all your hard work... "

"Nonsense!" Catarina interrupted. "I enjoyed this challenge, and had the occasion to meet my old friends because of this after a long time. Just take care of yourselves, you two!" she said and tenderly hugged both men, waved her goodbye and left. 

When the portal disappeared, Alec and Magnus just stood and looked at each other. Many emotions played on both of their faces, as they adjusted their minds slowly to take in all the new information. 

Finally it was Alec who broke the silence first. "So what was it again with the merman you saw by your pool the other day..?" he asked and grinned at Magnus, whose face broke in relieved laughter. 

"Well...." Magnus said and walked to the kitchen and put the kettle on. He started to make hot rum toddies for them, as there was rum left from the ice cream. "I told you then, my darling, that you could never know for sure," he said, slowly got the drinks ready and brought them to the table as Alec just watched his movements in the kitchen silently. Even if it was a hot, tropical night, the calming scent of the hot drink calmed them both. "You maybe haven't ever realized it your self, but I have always admired your effortless movement in the water. I always thought that maybe you have swum since you were baby or something, but now..." Magnus said trailing off. 

"Yeah," Alec said. "I actually have always loved swimming, and learnt to swim when I was barely even walking properly.... I never thought it was weird, since Izzy and Max are like that too. We have a pool in our parent's back yard, and we spent most of our childhood there, throwing different items for each other to dive for at the bottom of the pool. And then, father took us to scuba diving lessons, and oh boy, I knew then and there that it was something I wanted to do for a living.... And now... " Alec kept a pause. "Oh, Magnus, I don't know how I am supposed to think about all this! " Alec said frustrated and confused, tugging his hair with his hands. 

" Why don't you start from the beginning. Write down what we know, and you can move on from that, " Magnus suggested. He knew how his boyfriend's head functioned; it needed to focus on facts first. He still remembered clearly the day Alec had found out that he was a warlock, and the way Alec had taken it all in like a scientist. So maybe, Magnus thought, that kind of thinking would help now too. 

Magnus knew that he had hit the bull's eye, when Alec rose from his seat, a glint in his eyes and placed a solid kiss on his forehead. "You are a genius, Magnus! And you know me so well!" he exclaimed and went to collect some paper and a pen. Then he sat again facing Magnus and asked: 

"So...where should we start?"


End file.
